Rainbows and Necromancy
by sagitarius
Summary: "Damn parasite. You think I'll just roll over and let you destroy me, piece by piece? Out of her own hubris, your companion has already fallen. I would've been worried, but now? You've lost your drive, and you're full of openings. And I know just the piece I need to deal with you. Now if only those idiots could get their act together and just do their jobs already!"
1. Chapter 1

**So I decided to start on this little project to get myself back into writing. I'll try to update it a lot more regularly than my other works, to start with, although it will have much shorter chapters than what I usually write.**

 **Awakening**

 **1.1**

" _My my, you're certainly an interesting one. So close to death, not just in body, but in spirit too. Well... not that that's_ too _unique. There are a few hundred of you every year or so."_

It was a gentle voice that woke me, my eyes opening wide. Or at least... I think they did. I couldn't see anything around me at all. I couldn't _feel_ anything at all; my legs, my arms, my _everything_. Any logical person would've begun to panic, but... I didn't, for some reason.

" _Well, you're certainly right, not to worry. I wouldn't have brought you here if I was just going to let you die."_

There was that voice again, gentle and... motherly. There wasn't really any other way to place it. I could barely keep my emotions at bay, as memories of all the times mom would read stories to me as she tucked me into bed came rushing in. If I could, I was sure I'd begin crying by now.

" _Ah, I do apologize. Making you sad wasn't my intention,"_ said the voice, practically dripping with sincerity. I couldn't really do anything but accept it for what it was. It's been a long time since anyone's actually apologized to me and meant it. It fealt... nice.

Even though I couldn't feel my mouth, I still couldn't help but try and speak. "Who are you?" My own voice sounded out all the same, clearer and louder than I would've expected. There weren't even any echoes, despite the lack of light making it seem like I was in an enclosed space.

The voice seemed to hum in contemplation, a lilting cadance that made me feel like I was listening to a gentle orchestra.

" _Who I am is... a difficult question to answer."_ For some reason, I could almost imagine the speaker taking a thinking pose. _"_ _I have had many names in the past, you see: Gaia, Terra, Prithvi, Pachamama. Really, get enough names, and you start to lose track."_

I felt the urge to give the voice a questioning look. I didn't know what a Prithvi or Pachamama were, but Gaia and Terra were more well known names. They belonged to goddesses of the earth; one was Greek, and the other, Roman, although I couldn't remember which was which.

It was ridiculous. Magic and mysticism have long since been proven as nothing but smoke and mirrors. Gods and demons, if they did exist, have pretty much left everything in the world to its own devices. It was more likely that whoever this voice belonged to was just a Cape with delusions of granduer, or a sick sense of humor.

I still believed her. I don't know if I was being Mastered, to do so, but thinking about it, it wouldn't really matter if that was the case, would it?

"So you're a goddess then? Mother Nature, and all that?"

" _It would be more accurate to call me a Great Spirit, really."_ I swear, I could hear the capitalization in her correction. _"_ _Details aside, I guess Mother Nature is as good a name as any to call me."_

Having a name for the face, well... voice, made things a bit easier for me. Not that I was uncomfortable to begin with, but it made me feel even more assured. A part of me still worried about being Mastered though.

" _I suppose your culture_ would _make you partial to such possibility,"_ Mother Nature noted, _"_ _in a way, it's not entirely incorrect. All instincts come from me. Beasts of all kinds fear my wrath, but feel safe in my embrace._

" _You humans may have weakened your connection to me, but you are still my children. This close to me, even a human would feel the effect of their instincts at their fullest, and right now, yours are telling you that you can trust me."_

That made sense, I guess. I did hear that animals would usually become agitated and flee in advance whenver a natural disaster was approaching. If it was Mother Nature just teling them... wait...

"Did... did you just?... Did you read my _mind?_ " I felt a shot of panic running through me. An expert on the Cape world I was not, but even I've heard that the only suspected mind reader in the world was-

" _I'm not the Simurgh,"_ Mother Nature tittered, clearly finding my situation funny, for whatever reason. I certainly didn't think it was a laughing matter. _"_ _I know it probably won't assuage your fears completely, but do think about this a bit more calmly. You said it yourself: If you were 'Mastered', as you call it, and by that false Seraph, no less, then it wouldn't matter, would it?"_

I felt like scowling at her now. "That doesn't exaclty fill me with confidence," I shot back bitingly.

If Mother Nature was bothered by it, it didn't show. Er... sound. Not from her amused giggling.

" _Silly child,"_ the voice admonished, _"_ _would anything I say make you confident that you_ weren't _being Mastered?"_

Alright, she got me on that one. Couldn't make any arguments there.

" _I thought not."_ The smugness in her tone _really_ should've set me off, but now that I'd given up on fighting the possibility that the Simurgh was in my head, I felt calm and comfortable again. _"_ _It truly is a wonder though, you humans. Even this close to me, you were still able to break away from your natural instincts and feel fear when I did not wish you to."_

I wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or not, but Mother Nature didn't sound like she was mocking. Say what you will about my social skills, but given my recent history, I'd like to think that I was an expert in telling whether or not someone was making fun of me.

" _It was more an interesting footnote for me to voice out, my child."_

Ah, right. The Earth Goddess or possible Endbringer could read my every thought. Embarrasing how I forgot that in such a short time.

" _Serenety can often make others forget about worldly troubles, child. It is natural."_

Well that was certainly nice to know. Maybe I'd forgotten that because of the two years and change of shit I've been having. That was a depressing line of thought I didn't really want to go through right now.

"Why am I here?" I asked instead, looking around at the sheer... nothingness, again, "For that matter, where _is_ 'here'?"

" _Hmm, now that is a much easier question."_ The voice paused in a way that I couldn't help but imagine as her preparing for some grand announcement. I wasn't dissapointed. _"_ _This, my child, is the place between Life, and Death. The Waiting Room of the Departed. The In Between the In Between. This... is Limbo."_

…

" _I swear, if you imagine crickets chirping for a second more, I'm never going to make you stop hearing them when you get back to the land of the living."_

Stopping my imagination wasn't exactly something easy for me to do!

Mother Nature sighed at that. I don't know how it was possible, but she did. Then again, she was talking to me already, something that I still wasn't sure was actually happening, so what did I know?

"So... what you're saying is that I'm... dead?"

I _really_ should've been more worried about that right now, but I wasn't. How was _being dead_ less worrying than being a _Ziz Bomb_?

" _I would assume it is because the former is, to your knowledge, outside of any being's control, whereas the latter implies that you are directly under another's control,"_ the spirit posited.

It made sense to me, thinking about it. I'd rather be dead than be a puppet to a harbinger of the apocalypse. Or maybe that was the Master influence talking.

" _On that note, and to answer your prior question: No, you are not dead."_ Well, that was certainly a relief to hear. _"If you would recall, in fact, I said much earlier that you are only close to death, both your body, and your spirit. Although the former seems to be recovering from that state."_

I thought back to when I first woke up, for a lack of better term; when Mother Nature first spoke to me. It was vague, but I do recall hearing something like that.

" _Yes, child, I did say that."_ She paused, and I could easily imagine her taking a breath, needless as it probably was. _"_ _Let us move on to the 'Why' of the matter, shall we?"_

That sounded good.

" _Tell me: What do you remember before waking up here?"_

Again, I felt like looking at her questioningly for her... question. Awkward sentence aside, I thought back to earlier in the day. It was the end of the winter break, I'd just left for school and... nothing. That was it. I remember getting off the school bus, equal parts nervous at the prospect of returning and hopeful that the year would go without the trio tormenting me anymore, then I was here.

It may have been confusing for me, but judging from her releaved sigh, Mother Nature probably thought it was a good thing.

" _Great, the memory alteration went perfectly then. A little further back than I intended, but better that than later."_

I couldn't help blanching at the thought. Memory alteration? Seriously?

" _Now now, child. Don't think bad of it,"_ said the spirit placatingly. _"_ _Believe me, you are better off not remembering such a horrid experience as you had. Remember, I said that you're body was close to death too. The part of your memory I erased was what put it into that state."_

"That's no excuse to mess with my head!" I protested vehemently, wishing so badly that I could glare at the not-goddess. "Those are my memories you're taking from me!"

Mother Nature scoffed at that, which only served to make me angrier. _"_ _Are you telling me you_ want _to remember being shoved into a locker filled with rotting blood and innumerable insects for hours on end?"_ she challenged. Her words were like a bucket of freezing water to my bonfire of rage.

That... really didn't sound good. Not at all.

" _I may not be able to empathize with mortals completely, but I know pain and suffering when I see it."_ I felt something embrace me in that moment, invisible arms wrapping around my incorporeal body. The feeling of acceptance and safety from earlier seemed all the stronger now. _"_ _You humans,"_ she sighed wistfully, _"_ _like all others born from me, you are my children. I will punish you when it is needed. I will expose you to my wrath, if it is time. I will take your life, if it is time. But I do not enjoy your suffering. It may be hard for you to understand such a concept with your mortal brain, but it is how it is. If I can save you from suffering and an untimely death, I will do all in my power to accomplish it, limited though they may be."_

I... didn't know what to say to that.

I think I wanted to cry, but with my body how it is -that is to say, lacking completely- it wasn't an option. I wanted to hug her back, but even though I felt Mother Nature's arms around me, I still couldn't actually feel my body.

I settled, instead, by imagining the scene as best as a I could. The way I wish it could be instead. Of mom in Mother Nature's place, hugging me gently, as I cried into her shoulder. I imagined releasing all my pent up frustration and sorrow since that night when she stopped coming home. In my head, I cried and cried and cried until I couldn't anymore.

I don't know how long I did that, but by the time I was done, I noticed that something had changed. It was still dark all around, but there was a source of light now. And it was coming from my body. Which I was seeing from a third person's perspective.

This might have held my attention far more if it wasn't for the other illuminated form I could see: A second body, so familiar, and yet so foreign, hugging my own. Neither glowed, like you'd normally expect; not in the way that works of fiction might have you believe. They were just... there. A collection of colored forms over the pitch black background.

The second body moved mine with care, resting on on some invisible bed as though it was asleep, before turning to me.

It was mom. But at the same time, it wasn't. The figure was the same, the hair, from its length to its sheen was the same. The clothes she wore was the last one I'd seen mom wearing before she was garbed in the black funeral dress.

But it was no perfect copy. Or rather, it was too perfect a copy. There wasn't a single blemish on her skin; far lighter than I could ever remember seeing mom's, and infinitely more vibrant. Even the tiny scar below her lip -a reminder of her days under a villain's employ- was missing. Her hair was so much blacker than mom's ever was, and would've vanished in front of the background if it wasn't reflecting some invisble light. The dress she wore wasn't spared either, far more immaculate than I could ever recall it being.

A copy, more perfect than the original.

 _"_ _I couldn't make myself look exactly like your mother, now could I?"_ Mother Nature asked from mom's now fuller lips. _"_ _Well... actually, I could. But it wouldn't be right. You may be my child, but_ I _am not your mother."_

Contradictory statement aside, I accepted it for what it was. It was bit creepy, looking at her like that, but I didn't feel insulted for it. I wasn't exactly happy that the spirit seemed to have taken mom's shape, but that she seemed intent on not replacing her even through that was calming, in a way.

" _It's the reason why I do what I do, child."_ The figure sat down on an invisible chair, smiling slightly at me. _"_ _And I'm happy to see that you've healed your soul enough to get this far with only so light a push. It means we can move on with more important matters now."_

I felt myself blink at that. I _actually_ felt it, which from Mother Nature's growing smile, was probably what she meant. I wanted to ask about that but...

"More important matters?" I parroted instead, my curiosity piqued.

Her gentle smile grew a more sombre hint, even as it stayed the same.

" _I have all but told you why you are here,"_ she began, _"_ _but I have yet to tell you WHY you are here."_

Contradictory as it was, I didn't question what she'd said.

" _I will be frank with you, child. There is something in your world that poses a grave threat to me,"_ she said, now completely serious. _"_ _It is a parasite, if you will, and though it currently has no intention of causing my multiple anchors -that is, the various Earths in different universes- further harm, I'm afraid that it won't remain as such forever._ Something _will cause it to go on a rampage and possibly kill me. And with me, all of my children. I don't think I need to tell you why that's a bad thing, do I."_

End of the World scenario. Okay, that was a bit heavier than I was expecting. I had sneaking suspicion about what she wanted now though, and I didn't know how to feel about it.

She laughed mirthlessly.

" _You would be right in your assumptions, child. I brought you here, conversed with you on this plane, so that I may recruit you to stop it. Not necessarily kill it; that may be too tall an order to make without making my condition 'terminal' as you people call it. Merely keep it from turning violent."_

That sounded less daunting, admittedly. I didn't need to fight the super powerful, multi-Earth ending threat. I just needed to make sure it doesn't decide to act like a super powerful, multi-Earth ending threat. Still though, "Why me? I'm just an ordinary girl."

Mother Nature raised a perfectly trimmed brow my way. She hummed in thought, seeming to consider her words. _"_ _Honestly,"_ she finally decided, _"_ _It's just because using you would be more convenient than using anyone else."_

If there was anything she could have said to reassure me, that was the furthest thing it could've been. Especially since she'd been quite clear that she would just be _using_ me, and I didn't know how to feel about that.

The spirit, apparantly, just saw fit to laugh off my reaction. _"_ _Now now, child, don't think so bad of it. It might seem tyranical of me, but it isn't though I can use you in the same way that mortals could."_ I wasn't sure how _that_ was supposed to reassure me either. _"_ _It's simple, really. I intend to use you as an instrument of my will, true, but my restrictions limit me to providing only minimal influence. I can give you the targets you need to take care of and the tools you need to succeed, but I cannot influence how you accomplish those feats. And I think you'll agree with me that the end result of our little partnership is something_ both of us _want."_

That was true. I'm not sure I was willing to trust her on her word alone, but if she couldn't actually make me do anything short of telling me how what I needed to do to keep the world from ending, then it didn't sound that bad.

"And I'm really the most convenient choice?"

The spirit didn't answer immediately, thinking over her words once more. _"_ _In a way."_ She shrugged as she spoke. It somehow conveyed a strong sense of exasperation. _"_ _In truth, I suppose it's more like the opposite. Not in the sense that you are the least convenient, though. Rather, that not choosing you would mean that_ you _would be on the path of bringing the end so much closer as well. And of those who live that would bring the end closer still, you are the only candidate which made it to this point."_

If it could, my jaw would've dropped. I could've brought the end of the world? That... that wasn't something I was ready for.

" _Don't feel too bad about it, child,"_ assured the spirit. _"_ _It wouldn't have been your fault. If what have learned is true -and I've no reason to believe otherwise, you would've been trying to find a way to avert the end. It is just unfortunate that your actions would inadvertently lead to it instead. You're hardly the only one. There's an entire group of you humans who've been doing that since before you were born."_

I really wanted to ask about that, but the spirit shook her head before I could so much as think a proper question.

" _Nevermind that now, child. There will be time for stories and explanations later. For now, I think it is time that we ended this little discussion, especially since your body is getting so close to recovering."_

I took that to mean that I was waking up. That was good, I guess. I still don't know what happened to me -well, I did, but I don't _remember_ it- or how bad it was, but if my body was damaged badly enough that I was on the edge of death, I could only imagine that I'd been out for a while.

"How is this going to go then?" I asked mom's impostor, "You said you'd give me the tools I needed. What exactly did you mean by that?"

She smiled back at me. _"_ _Such an adaptable child."_ The compliment wasn't what I was expecting, but neither of us dwelled on it. _"_ _I will cut to the meat of the matter, then. I am going to give you powers."_ _That_ took me by surprise, my phantom eyes going wide. _"_ _They will not be of the same nature as the powers you know of. Though in what way, I'll leave for a later meeting."_

" _Now, as a Greater Spirit, I can grant a many powers but... well... your opponents are not one to be taken down by mere brute strength. You will need something that will let you take them by surprise, otherwise, you will be routed all too quickly. As such, I have chosen to give you something far more... foreign to what your future enemies are used to."_

"I'm, uh... not really sure I follow." It was true, too. What did she mean by foreign to them? And why would it matter?

" _I would expect not,"_ she laughed to herself. _"_ _Still, you are close to waking up. Our time here is too short to go into detail. Just know that I am certain you will come to appreciate this power in time,"_ she paused to raise a hand, an orb of greenish yellow light floating above it, _"_ _in very,_ very _short order. After all, even if I am using you, it doesn't mean that I cannot reward you for your willingness to help me."_

"Do I even have a choice?" I couldn't keep myself from asking.

It didn't seem to offend Mother Nature.

" _You have a choice whether or not you will follow through. Although, given your character, I doubt you will leave things be."_

She was so sure of what she was saying that it was honestly a little annoying. Even if I couldn't really say she was wrong. I couldn't help thinking back to all the times the trio and their cronies bullied me, while other people just looked on like it didn't even matter. If I had powers and could do something help others, then I definitely wouldn't just ignore it. I wouldn't become like those people.

" _And_ there _is the resolve that makes you an even better candidate for this task."_ My attention turned back to the not-goddess. She was smiling at me again, amused and... proud? Either way, it made me feel warm inside. _"_ _I_ _t is clear to me that you've made your choice. As such, I think it best we hurry this along, yes."_

I tried to nod. There was no body there, of course. Mine was still floating in front of Mother Nature, but I think she got the message.

" _Then let us bring this meeting to a close."_

She raised the hand with the greenish yellow light higher, coming towards me until it hovered over my body. Her other hand followed suit, another light, this one similar to red wine in color hovering above it.

" _I doubt that one would be enough to accomplish what you need. You would be in too much danger, with just the first,"_ she explained offhandedly, _"_ _It would hardly do for you to die because you couldn't protect yourself properly."_

The first hand came down, palms towards my body and gliding over it, as though spreading the light across it. _"_ _A splash of this,"_ the second hand fell, pushing its light into where my heart was, even as the first one came back up with a new, scarlet light, _"_ _a hint of that,"_ the other hand return, this time, touching the extremities of my limbs, each, _"_ _a flair of Ecarlate, and of course, the final touch."_ She paused, both hands raised to cup in front of her face. A faint, white light appeared above it now, like off colored fireflies. She blew it towards my head. _"_ _This: A connection to me, deeper than any other human. It is not much, but know that it will rarely guide you wrong."_

I watched the display with rapt attention, not really knowing what was going on, but mesmerized by it all the same.

Once it ended, Mother Nature looked back up, smiling at me with that motherly face.

 _"_ _Now now, don't look so surprised. I am, after all, the greatest artist any world has ever seen."_ A bright light seemed to just turn on all around me as she said that, ever so slowly encroaching on the darkness. _"_ _Make no mistake, we will speak again, once you've come to terms with the powers I have given you. It shouldn't take you long to figure out the parts of it, at least."_

The light had almost fully covered everywhere around me, and I felt myself beginning to fade away, like I was waking up from a lucid dream.

Mother Nature spoke one last time, before I fully left, and though it was muffled, I could still hear her muttering clearly enough. Not that it made sense to me either way.

" _Now let's just hope that that damn Overlord and stupid Seraph have finally managed to hash things out with the whole world connection issue. If Death's still angry about his little overflow problem, I'll never be able to get this off the ground."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Awakening**

 **1.2**

  
I didn't wake up with a sudden jolt, or groaning from the pain all over my body. I just woke up. Like it was any other day after a dreamless night. It was slow, and I didn't realize that was awake until my eyes had been open for quite a while. I felt fine, all told. A little parched and sticky from sweat, but fine. My head took its time to catch up, still processing the dream I just had, regardless of whether or not it was more than just that.

I sat up from my bed.

Wait, no, not _my_ bed. _A_ bed. Mine might not have been the height of comfort, but it was softer than what I was lying on now. The blankets were too stiff and thin for the season too.

I looked around the room. It was dark, for one. Not nearly as dark as in my dream, and there was some light coming in from a from a window above my bed, as well as from somewhere behind the curtain. It was probably night time then; very late too, if the wall clock across from the glass was correct. The roof was tiled, what little I could see of the bed frame looked mechanical, and there was a privacy curtain to my right. I think it was safe to assume that I was in a hospital bed. That made sense, if what I dreamnt about was right. So maybe it really was more than just a dream.

I quickly shook the thought out of my head.

It was stupid. Of course it was just a dream. The way I acted in it and the fact that mom was there, even if it wasn't perfect, was all the proof I needed. The world wasn't coming to an end; or at least not any faster than it was before. I wasn't chosen by some goddess to save the world so that I wouldn't end up destroying it instead, and definitely didn't have any powers. I would've felt it by now, I was sure. It was pretty common knowledge that Capes always had some instinctual knowledge of how their powers worked. And here I am, not really feeling anything different.

 _"It would've been nice if it was real though."  
_  
I scowled at the stray, traitorous thought.

Yeah, it would've been great if it was true, but it wasn't. I was still just regular old, powerless Taylor.

And now I was just getting even more depressed. Dammit, I get enough of that at school, I don't need it here.

I took another look around the room, trying to divert my mind away from the doom and gloom I was making.

There was a chair on the left side of my bed, along with small cabinet with a 'Get well soon' bouquet on it. I didn't need to look at the name to know it was from dad. That might've been depressing to some people, but it still made me happy inside.

Dad came to visit me. I really shouldn't have been surprised by that, and I wasn't. But just having proof that he was here made me happy. He still cared. He hadn't shown it well since mom died, and maybe what happened to me, whether it really was getting stuck in a locker filled with stuff I didn't even want to think about, or something else entirely, ended up being a wake up call, but he still cared about. He was probably the only one left who did.

I tried to stop myself from crying, but I couldn't. At least I wasn't feeling very sad anymore, I laughed internally, even as I sobbed outside, taking the flowers and hugging them to my chest. The faint smell of daffodils reached my nose. I wasn't someone who'd ever been that interested in flowers, but they were mom's favorite. Mine too. I could feel a smile creeping up my face.

"Heh... well, at least one of us can be happy."

I yelped in panic, throwing the only real thing I could at where the unfamiliar voice came from. The bouquet bounced harmlessly off of the privacy curtain.

"The hell?" the same voice cried out, sounding just as surprised as I was sure I was.

I grasped for the curtain, just barely reaching it, even with my long arms, and all but tossed it open.

A man stared at me from the other side, his eyes wide with shock between bewildered blinks. I stared back at him, wondering to myself just what the hell this person was doing here.

The man was middle aged, probably a little older than dad, and was also the complete opposite of dad in pretty much every other way apart from height. He was broad shouldered, his hair, completely gray, but without a sign of balding, and while his arms were covered completely, it wasn't hard to imagine them being well muscled. Overall, he looked like he came straight out of a TV SWAT team. Literally. He was even wearing a combat uniform, or whatever you called those things, bullet proof vests and all.

More importantly, he _definitely_ didn't look like he belonged in what was clearly a hospital.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded on impulse, just barely keeping myself from shouting. But now that I thought about it, maybe shouting wasn't such a bad idea. At this point, I was half expecting him to pull a weapon on me or something.

Instead, he just stayed there, blinking owlishly at me. He turned his head once or twice in what I assumed was an attempt to search for someone, but for the life of me, I couldn't tell _why_ he was doing that. In the end, the old man just seemed to give up and pointed -quite shakily- at himself.

"Are you... are you actually _talking_ to me?" He said disbelievingly.

Emboldened by the fact that I wasn't dead yet, I glared at him like he was insane. "Of course I'm talking to you, who else is here?" I followed up, crossing my arms over my chest in my best imitation of mom's 'Detention Scowl'. She always used that whenever she wanted to get something out of dad or his co-workers.

Oddly, it didn't work nearly as well for me.

I don't even know why I bothered.

"You... really _are_ talking to me. Huh..." His shoulders relaxed as a look of realization crossed his face.

I'm not really sure what he was thinking, but I did know that he never answered my original question. That was enough for me to forge on ahead.

"Again, who are you?" I repeated, more politely, but just as intense as the last time, "And why are you here in my hospital room?"

He took the time to consider the question, which kind of annoyed me, but I kept quiet about it in the hopes that he'd do something else other than stating the obvious.

I was rewarded with a decisive hum. "Name's Morris. Morris Jacobson. But just call me Morris." He gave a mock salute to go with his introduction. "What about you, kid?"

I grumbled at the title, which only got worse when it got a smirk out of him. It was the kind all old people got when they someone floundering in a way that only someone younger than them could.

"Taylor Hebert, and don't call me that." That was what dad called me. Well... close enough, even if he didn't do it very often. "You still haven't told me why you're here," I pointed out.

He cringed at that, going from cocky, to uncertain in no time flat. All of a sudden, it was like there was something had gone extremely wrong, and I had no idea what. He turned to look at the opposite side of the room, where another privacy curtain was set up to hide what I assume was another patient's bed.

"Why don't you look for yourself," he said eventually, nodding towards the curtain.

It took me a while to dredge up the courage to do just that, but he was patient. I peeled my bed's blanket off me and walked, very reluctantly, towards the other curtain. All the while, I could feel Morris's eyes on me. There was no malice there. Just... expectation. He was waiting for me to get a good look myself.

Finally, I pulled the curtain open and-

"Oh..."

There wasn't really anything else I felt I could say.

There was another bed behind the second curtain, along with an array of medical equipment. Only other difference was that this bed's blanket was used to cover the entire body, not just part of it. I didn't need to be a genius to know what that meant. And as if to compound the point further, on the adjoining nightstand was a simple plaque with a medal on top. 'In Honor of Services Rendered' said the metal sign, right above the PRT's symbol. To whom it was dedicated to, I couldn't tell. What little moonlight illuminated the room didn't reach the words, and I didn't want to handle it when I had no need to.

"I'm sorry," I said instead, stepping back and readjusting the curtain.

Morris snorted. "No need to apologize brat," he said teasingly, "I't not like you knew."

"That doesn't make it right," I countered weakly.

"Maybe not. But it isn't something you should beat yourself up over."

He didn't say anything more. I didn't feel like I wanted to either. Instead, I just sat myself back on my bed and looked up at the moonlight coming from the little window.

The silence wasn't the comforting kind that you'd feel when you were just around family on a quiet night, nor was it oppressive or awkward. We were just two people in a hospital room together... with the body of a third person who was dead. Okay, so maybe it was a little awkward.

I managed to stand it for what felt like hours, as opposed to the ten minutes that the clock claimed it had been.

"How did he... you know...?" I felt like bashing my head against a wall. Of all the things I could've asked, _that's_ what I went with? Dammit brain, I know we haven't practiced socializing for a long time, but since when did asking a random stranger how their friend died become a good idea?

And now he was giving me weird look, and all I could do was cover my mouth, as if trying to stop it from saying anything else that was equally as stupid. I would've looked away too, if I could, but like an impending train wreck -not a car crash. Never a car crash- I couldn't look away. It just so happened that I was the driver this time.

We held our little stand off for what had to be minutes on end, although that might just be the shame talking. Eventually though, and much to my surprise, Morris just shrugged and answered; as if I didn't just commit a huge faux pas.

"Bust gone wrong," he said, "Empire arm's depot. Went in with Miss Militia, Assault and Battery. We only expected Alabaster to be there, maybe with Rune on the off chance they were transporting something tonight. Either way, it should've been a clean operation. Tear gas the place and let our capes handle theirs while we sweep the ground and make arrests. Minimal injuries expected, at best, one or two casualties at worst." He sighed, deflating as he thought back to what happened earlier. "You can probably tell that things didn't go as planned."

I nodded on reflex, not that he seemed to mind. The old man looked a little preoccupied, rubbing at a part of his head. Not in the way you would if you had a headache. It more like he was looking for something, actually.

"Rune wasn't there," he continued after a while, "but Alabaster wasn't alone. Turns out, Victor and Othala decided to pay a visit that night." I took the short reprieve that followed to try and remember who those two were. Victor was the skill thief, and Othala was... a healer, I think. "Alabaster and the Nazis with him on the upper floor managed to tie up our guys while Victor went after us. Tear gas had no effect on him; don't know if it was because of his mask or Othala making him invincible," quickly, I revised that note about Othala to power granter, "but either way, he went through us fast as hell. Best I can tell, he was using some pretty high caliber guns. Kept picking us off one by one. Most were injuries, but I could count five guys who definitely died before, well..." his frown tightened, and he sent a brief glare towards the closed curtain.

I followed his line of sight. It was pretty clear that the death of the one on the other side of the room hit him really hard.

"That guy... he managed to get a hold of him, you know?" Morris chuckled. It sounded bittersweet, even to my socially inept ears. "Probably took Victor by surprise too; managed to disarm him and everything. It was pretty obvious that the damn thief was invincible too, so instead of waisting his time trying to get shots off, or knifing him down, he decided to try and choke him instead. For a while, it looked like it was working too."

I felt my eyes widen in awe as I listened. I might not have been an expert on the Cape scene -a dabbler, more than anything else- but even I knew how most one on one confrontations between Parahumans and regular people went. Seven times out of ten, it went badly. Two out of those three times, it was because they were a non-combat Thinker or was extremely inexperienced. And those statistics were probably being generous. Yet that guy managed to nearly take down someone who, from what I remember, was a master in multiple forms of martial arts. While he was invincible to boot.

That was pretty damn badass.

"What happened?" I ended up asking.

He shot a glance at me, and for a moment, I thought I'd finally crossed some kind of line. But instead of getting angry, he just chuckled, shaking his head at me for some reason. "Honestly? Just got careless," he said, shrugging dismissively.

The fact that he could just say something like that about a colleague sent a flash of anger through me. Clearly, it showed on my face, cause he tried to placate me pretty soon. "Don't think anything bad about it. It's the truth," Morris reasoned, palms out towards me. "Ended up dismissing everything else to try and take Victor down. Some Empire thug stumbled onto them from behind and hit him in the back of the head. Didn't take Victor too long to take advantage; he took his sidearm and shot him in the face."

Wait... what?

"But why was he here then? Shouldn't they have just taken him to the morgue?"

"Most of the time, that would be the right course of action," Morris answered with a nod, "but in this case, the victim in question was pretty unfortunate. The bullet didn't kill him immediately. It lodged into his brain, but he was still alive. He could barely move, but he was breathing, and I'd think there was still a pulse there if anyone checked. They ended up rushing him here instead of HQ because it was closer. Not that it helped. Old man finally croaked after a full day's stay here."

Wow. That was... I don't even know how to react to that. Apparently, contrary to what fiction would tell you, a normal person getting shot in the head doesn't necessarily die immediately. Whether that was more good than bad, I wasn't sure. On one hand, it might mean they could still be saved, but on the other, you get situations like this. How would even feel, to hold out hope that someone you knew might survive from something like that, only for them to die anyway?

"I'm sorry for your loss." It was the only thing I could say at this point. He must've been through a lot lately.

He shrugged it off again. "Like I said: Don't mind it too much. It's not your fault." He sighed, and glanced at the wall clock before walking towards the door. "Thanks for your condolences though."

He pressed his face against the glass portion of it, looking unsure at first, until his hand was pressed completely on the door. The way he turned his head from left to right, and back again told me he was searching for something.

"A nurse should be coming by to check up on you soon," he announced, answering my unasked question on his own. "I suggest you not talk to me when they get here. It won't do you any favors."

That got me curious. "What do you mean?" I asked, all the while wondering the same myself. Sure, it was weird that he was here when my dad wasn't, which I hope means that it was just too late for guests to be allowed in. But if that was the case, then he was the one in trouble here.

He looked over his shoulders and just stared at me for a while; his face completely devoid of expressions. When he turned again to continue looking out the door, it was with a simple suggestion: "Why don't you take a closer look at that plaque."

I blinked confusedly, looking first at the curtain hiding the other bed, then to Morris, then back to the bed, again and again, until he assured me that no one would be upset if I did.

Still unsure, I nonetheless got off my bed and crossed the other side of the room, sliding the curtain aside once more, before picking up the plaque and bringing it into the moonlight. I read the words engraved into it:

In Honor of Services Rendered

PRT Commander Morris Jacobson

May you be an inspiration to us all

I nearly dropped the medal in shock, my eyes going wide and blood turning cold. My head snapped up to where Morris was standing earlier, a part of me expecting to see wild eyed monster in his place. The sound of a door clicking open rang out at the same time. Morris was still standing in front of it, but he was looking at me now, a small, bemused smile on his face.

The door opened and passed straight through him, his body seeming to turn into fog wherever it passed him. A nurse looked into the room, through Morris's now translucent body and saw me, a smile forming on her face.

"Miss Hebert, you're finally awake," she observed as though there wasn't an apparition standing directly between us. It was only when she noticed what I was holding that she seemed to realize something was amiss. "Ah... I see you've learned about your... previous roommate. I do apologize about that. We've been dealing with a lack of space here in the ICU for a while now, and didn't want to move you without your father being notified first. He wouldn't answer any of our calls you see."

I just kept standing there, showing her my best impression of a deer that was about to die.

What...?


	3. Chapter 3

**Awakening**

 **1.3**

  
I think I was ten when I watched that movie about the kid who could see ghosts. There were two versions of that; one from Aleph, which was purely supernatural, and another from Bet, where the kid was a Parahuman. A lot of people liked the Aleph version better, either because it didn't bother trying to science everything about the power and just had a better plot over all, or, for the Cape geeks and scientists, because powers just don't work that way, apparently.

I'm starting to think that they might have been wrong.

Considering my roommate was both recently deceased _and_ watching me from the corner of the room, I'm also positive that I've got some good evidence against them. Of course, it could also mean that I'm just going insane, but since I really don't want that to be true, I just stuck with the whole 'I have a weird power now' explanation.

"Are you alright, dear?"

I shook my head off that train of thought. The one who spoke was one of the younger nurses, probably lower thirties at worst. Contrary to the cliché fictional depiction of nurses, her body was closer to being stocky than curvaceous, and was at least a head shorter than I was, clad in a crisp and clean scrub uniform. Her black hair was tied into a tight bun, and had the telltale signs of fading dye. She was smiling at me; it was small, but still noticeable on her lightly tanned face. A pair of thick rimmed glasses was perched on her vaguely Asiatic features. It gave her the look of someone who was serious about her job, but still very approachable. Her name tag identified her as Paula Crystobal.

I stammered as I tried to think of something to say. Obviously, mentioning the ghost of my roommate was a bad idea. I'd probably end up getting thrown into a mental asylum if I did. But it wasn't like I was ever any good at making excuses, at least on the fly. That Morris seemed to notice this and find some amusement in it didn't help.

"I... Yes, I was just... thinking of something. I'm fine, really," I decided to answer with a half truth. The last thing I wanted was make the woman who looked like she could pin me down with one arm despite her height disadvantage think I was crazy. Not that that was saying much. While she wasn't burly, Paula's arms were far from flabby, so most of that was probably muscle. Meanwhile, here I was: a beanpole with moderate aversion to exercise, as can be testified to by my...

I looked down at my stomach. My decidedly skinnier stomach, devoid of all fat that I _know_ was there before. Hell, after the winter break, it was probably bigger than the last time I went to school.

"My stomach if flat." It came out more as a flat (heh) statement than the question I meant it to be. Then again, between being chosen by a goddess to stop the end of the world and finding out that the guy I was talking to was recently deceased; losing a paunch that was the result of over a year's worth of sedentary living and stress induced hormonal imbalances didn't seem all that special.

The nurse rolled her eyes, a bemused smile on her face. "Kids these days," she snorted, quietly enough to be a whisper, but still loud enough to make it clear she intended for me to hear it. For the briefest of moments, I felt dread pooling in my stomach as my mind went back to Winslow, before the winter break began; to all the people who'd spit barbs at me while poorly feigning conversation. If it weren't for the gentleness shining in her eyes and the lack of venom on her expression, I might have done something worse than just flinching like I did. Sadly, as short as that was, it was still noticed.

"Are you _sure_ you're okay? You seem a little pale." The concern in Paula's voice seemed to double from before, equaling the expression on her face. Off to the side, a flash of blue caught my attention. A short glance revealed Morris's questioning stare, his body seeming tenser than before.

"It's nothing," I said, trying to reassure them both, "just some bad memories is all. Nothing to worry about."

The looks on their faces made it all too obvious that they didn't buy it, but neither seemed to want to press the issue.

"If you're sure. I'll take your word for it, Ms. Hebert," the nurse relented hesitantly, the frown on her face remaining. She eyed me up and down, scrutinizing me in silence. The intensity of it all made me look away. "Are you hungry then? Thirsty?" she asked. I shook my head at the first but nodded at the second. "Alright. Just relax and I'll go fetch you something to drink."

She left not long afterwards, taking only a brief moment at the door to ask me not to disturb the other patient's belongings, regardless of their condition. A part of me wanted to argue that I had said patient's permission, but held my tongue. That would just lead to more questions that I didn't want to answer. Besides, now that she was gone, it was the perfect time for me to have another chat with Morris. He probably thought the same thing, having approached my bedside as soon as Paula began walking out. Now he was leaning back on the wall to my left, arms crossed and with a questioning scowl on his face as he stared at me.

I was somehow able to meet his eyes with my own, probably because there didn't seem to be any animosity there. It was probably just his default expression whenever he wasn't laughing to himself at my social floundering.

It was obvious he was waiting for me to talk first. Not that I blamed him. I'm pretty sure this wasn't normal by any means, but if all dead people became ghosts, then the unnatural part clearly lay with me, so he probably didn't know anything. Come to think of it, he'd just died, so I shouldn't even expect him to know much about being a ghost either.

Dammit, I really was going to have to take initiative in this, wasn't I?

Alright, Taylor, it's fine. You can do this. You've only gone about a year or so with minimal socialization. It wasn't like you forgot _everything_ there is to talking with other people. Sure, none of those involved talking about suddenly being the protagonist of a horror film, but hey, Mother Nature said that I was adaptive. I can deal with this. I just had to think of the best way broach the proper conversation topic. Shouldn't be too hard.

"So, you're dead."

I all but slammed my face into my palms as soon as the words left my mouth.

 _Mother Nature, Gaia, Terra, Prithvi, whatever name you want me to call you, can we please renegotiate about that part of the contract where I need to be alive? I could really use being six feet under right about now. Maybe with some cement for good measure._

"No, I'm pretty sure I already said my name was Morris, ma'am."

...

My head rose slowly, as if it wasn't under my complete control, and stared up at him in disbelief. He looked back with the most serious face I'd ever seen outside of grandpa's old pictures from when he was in the marines. I blinked owlishly, once, twice, and a third time. He didn't even blink once. I snorted despite myself, the sound coming up muffled as I tried to keep it at bay. The corners of his mouth quirked up into a subtle smirk. It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

By the time I was done laughing, there was already a part of me that was worried that someone had heard and that I'd find myself in a straitjacket soon enough. The rest just enjoyed the shot endorphins coursing through my brain. The joke wasn't even that funny -it was a dad joke, or course it wasn't funny- but the contrast between it and the look on his face and tone of his voice just got to me somehow. He'd joined me not long after I started laughing earnestly, though his a lot more subdued.

"Feeling better now, brat?"

At any other time, I might have taken offense to that title. Right now, I was a little too grateful for it. I think that might have been the first time I've genuinely laughed in a long time. It felt great. In fact, "I think think might be the best I've felt for a long time, actually," I told him, a wide smile on my face, "Thanks for that."

"Heh, don't think too much about it," he replied nonchalantly, "you wouldn't be the first teenaged girl I've taken care of. I've had a lot of practice on what to expect and how to take care of it."

"Oh?" I perked up in curiosity, "You have a daughter?"

He shook his head in reply. "Not legally, no, but she might as well have been," he said, eyes trailing to something beyond me. I think it might have been the plaque I'd placed back beside his bed. "I don't really have a family to call my own. Closest thing there is is this one girl I helped my brother adopt." A wistful smile spread across his face, laughing at memories long passed. "That was nearly thirty years ago, back when I was still military, so I couldn't do it myself. Though once I decided to start working for the PRT instead, I ended up with a little bit more time to help take care of her; help her through her issues and all that. She was just as socially awkward then as your are now, maybe more."

That would certainly explain the imposing aura Morris seemed to have whenever he wasn't having his bits of fun. I took some offense to his comments about me but honestly, as much as I wanted to argue otherwise, I couldn't exactly refute his assessment. It was a little easier to do that now. Maybe there really was something to that whole 'laughter is the best medicine' spiel. I'd just have to try and laugh some more now, I guess.

Getting things back on track wasn't all that difficult from there. He told me a little about his limited experience as a ghost and how first came to as one, as foggy as that had been, in his own words. Paula came in at some point in between, pushing a cart with a glass of water, a pitcher of the same, and a small spread that you'd expect to find in a cafeteria; the latter two were set on my desk for later, and she insisted that I'd feel hungry at some point. From her, I learned about how and why I was here and, more importantly, with a dead body.

I was in the ICU, for one, which, thinking back, was something the nurse had already mentioned when she first came in. This was the fourth day (technically, as it was well past midnight) that Morris Jacobson's body had been in. He'd been my roommate since the day after I was admitted; he finally gave up the ghost _(Oh God that was both dark_ and _funny. What's wrong with me?)_ about three hours ago. They were still in the middle of processing his transfer to the morgue. Finally, what she'd been telling me about earlier, and the reason I was had lost most of my belly fat was because Panacea had come in -something that Paula seemed oddly frustrated about- and made some rounds to heal a few people, myself included.

I really only noticed that I no longer needed my glasses then.

I could either be transferred in the morning, after dad was informed, or I could choose to be transferred now. I chose to stay. Morris said something about a limit on how far he could leave before he just 'blacked out' and found himself above his body again. I wanted to talk to him a bit more. Maybe get some insights into whatever powers I received.

When Paula finally left, Morris continued on with his little tale. Eventually, the subject matter turned to me. I... wasn't quite ready to talk about my issues just yet, but he didn't push. It was nice; like talking to that cool uncle that a lot of kids and teenagers had in books and shows.

It didn't take me long to doze off, my stomach now full. Paula was right in the end, I guess.

-X-

I expected another meeting with Mother Nature before I woke up. Maybe then she could tell me how exactly I was supposed to stop the end of the world with my super 'I see dead people' powers. That was not the case.

Instead of having another conversation in my dreams, I ended up with none at all. It was like I just blinked for a moment and night had suddenly turned to day. Morning light streamed through the windows above, made all the more noticeable by the fact that the room's own lights had been turned off again.

I sat up and stretched, my back giving off a satisfying crack as I yawned the rest of my tiredness away. A brief glance at the wall clock (6:42) told me that it was surprisingly early, considering how late it was when I went to sleep, but I didn't really feel like going back to doing the same.

Instead, I took the what water remained in the pitcher and drank it before getting off my bed entirely.

Paula had told me that I'd been cleared to do so by my doctor after Panacea's visit. I only really had to stay for bureaucratic reasons now; final tests that they needed to do to make sure that Panacea had done everything correctly, even if they themselves had no doubt about my health. Beyond that, I was allowed to walk around on my own, although given this was the ICU, the only nearby areas I was permitted to enter were the lounge and rest room. The latter of which was my destination.

I took a glance back into the room before leaving, taking note of the conspicuous absence of one Morris Jacobson, in both body and spirit. It made me a little sad, but it's not like I didn't expect it. He seemed to be limited in where he could go by the location of his body. They must have processed his corpse already. I could probably see him (and likely a lot more ghosts) if I went to the morgue, but I neither knew where that was, nor could I think of any reason to explain my being there this early. I'd think about it later. For now, I had some other business to take care of.

There were a few other ghosts I saw on the way there. Most often, they were around a grieving relative, fruitlessly trying to console them. They weren't that hard to pick out, now that I focused on it. All of them had this faint blue aura around them, and their forms never cast a shadow.

I ignored them as best as I could. The last thing I needed was to get hounded by dead people who wanted me to pass on a message or something. That would just get attention, and was more trouble than I was willing to deal with.

When I got back to the door of my room, it was to find Paula already inside, _(Damn, are the shifts she takes_ this _long?)_ talking to two people. I didn't get a good look at them at first, but when I opened the door, I realized that I recognized one of the voices.

"Dad?" I called out as I came into the room.

Sure enough, he was there, eyes turning towards me in an instant. He looked haggard, with bags under his green eyes and his already balding dark brown hair looking even more like a mess, matching his wrinkled clothes and slouched shoulders. Still, the relief in his eyes was obvious as he looked at me. I was in hug before I even noticed him move, his arms pressing me into him tightly as he apologized to me and told me how happy he was that I was alright, over and over again. I closed my eyes and just savored the moment. I could actually feel my shoulder getting wet as seconds ticked on, but the feeling of safety and comfort that just being in my dad's embrace brought to me made it all worth it and more.

"I love you too, dad," I said to him, not really able to think of anything else to say. It felt like enough.

"I love you too, Taylor," he sobbed his answer, but it didn't make it any less important to me. Now I was sure that it was enough.

His hold around me loosened, but he didn't let me go just yet.

In return, I opened my eyes to look at the other two in the room.

To one side was Paula, her face set in a happy smile of her own. She gave me a nod of a approval when she noticed that I was looking. Opposite her was-

My eyes widened, my breath hitched, and I could swear my heart stopped cold in my chest at the sight.

A woman stood there, behind where dad had been. She was a thin woman, maybe an inch or two taller than I was. Her hair, curly and a shining black, fell down to her waist. Her spectacled face looked at me with relief and joy, her wide, thin lipped smile making it's bittersweet nature all the more apparent. A faint blue aura surrounded her form, and behind her was a distinct lack of a shadow.

I knew this woman. I've known her for all my life, but I never expected to see her standing on her own again.

The words spoken to me in my dream came back, unbidden, but not unwelcome.

 _"Just know that I am certain you will come to appreciate this power in time; in very,_ very _short order. After all, even if I am using you, it doesn't mean that I cannot reward you for your willingness to help me."_

I didn't really think much about what that meant, not until this moment. Not even after I found out I could see the spirits of the dead. It didn't really cross my mind, just what that implied.

Now though, it was right here in front of me, I understood.

It was my turn to cry now, and there was no stopping as my tears began to run down my face. I tried to speak, but couldn't manage more than a word.

"Mom..."


	4. Chapter 4

**Awakening**

 **1.4**

  
Dad only hugged me tighter as soon as the word slipped from my mouth. I'm not sure if it was because he thought I said more than that and he just didn't hear, or because I just remembered mom at the time, but I wasn't complaining. Paula didn't pay it any mind either. Mom though... her eyes had gone wide, her hands over her mouth as if stifling a gasp.

She took a slow, hesitant step towards me, phantom tears running down her ghostly face as she stared at me. I found myself staring back, and I'm pretty sure it was just the hair in front of my eyes that kept the nurse from finding me out. A range of emotions danced across her face: shock, disbelief, doubt, resignation and, as I continued to meet her eyes, hope.

Another step closer, surer and more confident. One her hands reached towards me, shaking and halting, but never stopping completely. "Taylor...?" she asked - _begged_ \- as tears fell faster on her desperate face, "Taylor... can you... can you see me, Taylor?".

It broke my heart, to look away. But I needed to do it, and I needed to make it look like I hadn't seen her. Not while I had an audience I wasn't willing to let know about my power. So I held back the urge to bawl my eyes out completely, even as I broke the hug with my dad.

Fortunately, it didn't take much to convince the nurse to give us some time to ourselves. When I asked, Paula just smiled and walked out, but not before telling us that someone might come in to take Morris's more personal affects home in a few hours.

I didn't give it much mind and just counted the seconds until I was sure she was well out of earshot now. Then, just to make sure, I poked my head out the door to check the immediate surroundings.

There were more people there, of course, but the foot traffic wasn't that bad, surprisingly. Maybe it had something to do with Panacea's recent visit. I wasn't sure, and at this point, I didn't care. There was only one thing in my mind now, and that was made of the two people behind me. Mom and dad. My family.

I closed the door and dragged a nearby chair to wedge it shut before turning back to face the rest of the room.

Dad was, understandably, very confused about what I was doing, and probably just a little bit worried.

Mom... depressed wouldn't do it justice. She looked shattered, and I knew it was my fault. I knew it was necessary, of course. I might not be much of a Cape geek, but even I knew that just letting random people find out that you have super powers is a horrible idea. That didn't make my throat tighten any less, nor did make my silent crying any weaker. It didn't take away the guilt, or even weaken it just a bit.

"Mom, I'm sorry." It was the only thing I could say, but it was enough. It got her to look back up at me, and this time, I made it clear that I was looking back; that I could see her, that it wasn't just a coincidence that she was there where my eyes fell.

All the same, she kept crying, but it was clear that it wasn't because she was sad anymore. And if seeing her crying from sadness broke my heart, seeing her cry from happiness made it soar.

She all but floated across the room to throw her spectral arms around me (for all I knew, she might have done just that), her head sinking into the crook of my neck as she cried. I wasn't any better, my vision was completely blurred by my tears. Memory after memory assaulted me. Every time I got home from Emma's, every day when mom came home from the university, all the times when we made up from a fight, it was these same arms that wrapped around me and told me, without a single word, that everything would be alright. It was feeling that I never thought I would ever experience again.

Before I knew it, I'd returned mom's embrace, my arms finding purchase even though I knew that there physically wasn't anything there. The faint blue aura surrounding her sparked with a yellow green light, and I felt something calling me, but I ignored its siren song. I didn't want this moment to end so soon. I can figure out what my power was trying to tell me some other time. This? This was more important than anything else. For the second time today, I felt like I was truly protected, satisfied and comforted.

"Taylor? Taylor, what's going on? Are you alright?"

Dad looked worried. It was understandable, seeing as, from his perspective, I was hugging the air; crying my eyes out and hugging a mother who was no longer alive. That all of it was technically true doesn't help much. But he deserved an explanation. More than that, he deserved to know.

I wasn't originally planning on telling him about my power, admittedly. He would've just worried about me, and it's not like having super psychic powers was very useful for keeping me safe. Not my kind of psychic, at least. I still needed to ask Mother Nature about that, but that was for later. Right here, right now, I needed to tell dad. Mom was here, and even if I'd need to play messenger girl for the rest of my life, he _had_ to know. Even if it wouldn't be perfect, it would mean that we'd be a family again.

No point beating around the bush then. I was never very good at social niceties, and I've only gotten worse in the past year and a half. Blunt approach it is then.

"Dad, I have powers."

-X-

I explained everything to dad when he had inevitably asked for clarification. I told him all about my meeting with Mother Nature and the time I spent talking to Morris the night before, and how I found out that I really was speaking to ghosts.

He wasn't taking it as easily as I'd hoped. He'd been quick to point out that 'Mother Nature' (complete with heavily implied air quotes) could just as easily have been a Cape who was mastering me through my dreams. If I hadn't refused so vehemently, he probably would have called the PRT and Protectorate already. It hurt, not being believed like that but... I understood _why_. Even _I_ thought that Mother Nature acted in a way that definitely would have been suspicious to anyone. Then he'd gone on to talk me out of believing that I was seeing the spirits of the dead.

Projections, hallucinations, postcognition (he didn't use that word per se, but it was definitely what he meant) were all thrown out as possible explanations. That made me angry, right up until I saw the look on his face. He looked desperate for something, like his eyes were begging me somehow. A niggling at the back of my head pushed to mind the idea that he didn't actually want to believe himself. That he wanted to be able to believe me; believe that I wasn't just being crazy, or attributing my powers to some higher plain of existence. We'd both given up on that, I guess. Or I had, at least until very early this morning.

"I'm not crazy, and I'm not making things up dad!" I protested, loudly, but without any heat to it, to my own surprise.

"I know, you're not crazy, Taylor. Maybe it's just... it's probably just your medication. Or... if you have powers, then it's probably just how you see things."

"Taylor, honey, maybe you should calm down first. I'm sure if you give your father some time, he'll come around."

"No! Mom, I'm not going to make this wait any longer! It's been nearly _two years_ since we lost you, and I only just got you back! I want dad to know that you're here too! That it really is you I'm seeing! And I'm not even _on_ any medications! Panacea healed me completely! I don't even need to be here if it wasn't for all the necessary paperwork!"

"Taylor, you can't be sure about that! Everyone knows that none of that supernatural stuff actually exi-"

"You're both just arguing like children Taylor. You're not going to get your father to to listen to you li-"

"It exists, and mom's right here!" I reached out to grab hold of mom's hand. The same spark of light, and the connection that came with it returned, and this time, I couldn't think to stop it.

All of a sudden, it was like the world had gone monochrome and silent. Everything slowed down to a crawl, and the only source of color was the light from my hand. Yellow green. Only now, I realized it was the same color as the first orb of light that Mother Nature had pressed into me.

"A Phantom is in your grasp. Seek a vessel to hold it."

The voice of the great spirit was like a whisper in the wind, but as silent as everything else was, it may as well have come from a loud speaker.

I found my eyes wandering at its behest, and with each item I focused on, information about it would flood my brain. The flowers around the room would grant heightened senses and resilience to any non physical attack, but would also cause physical weakness and decreased stamina. The vase holding one set would grant the same benefits to a much lesser extent, but also increase stamina and only hamper their strength, making them just as durable. The clock on the wall felt like it might extend... something, while also granting increased speed, but decrease everything else. Even the bed wasn't exempt from my perusal, giving a sense of extremely strong boost in stamina at the cost of speed.

My clothes, the door and window, the tables, the curtains; everywhere I looked -everything I looked at gave me some kind of information, but for what, I still don't understand. It was like a piece of a puzzle was missing, but I _knew_ I'd be able to figure it out easily. I just needed to find the right object and-

My eyes landed on dad. More specifically, on his hand. I felt a deep connection between it and the light in my hand, my mother's soul-no, her _Phantom_. Under normal circumstances, it would wasn't so impressive. A small increase in physical and thinking speed and large increase in resilience, while decreasing strength, vitality, and endurance; there were many things around the room that would do better. But if it was Annette Hebert. If it was _MOM_ , it would do so much more. The same sense of extended time was there; the benefits trebled and the penalties halved. It was perfect. For what, I still didn't know, but it was _perfect_ , and I tried to reach towards it with my power.

It didn't make it. Something around my dad kept it from working. A forest green aura that surrounded him and everything on him.

"Dad, your wedding ring, take it off." The world flickered back into color as I gave the order. A part of me felt like it should be guilty but... it was like I was running on... instinct.

 _"_ _This: A connection to me, deeper than any other human's. It is not much, but know that it will rarely guide you wrong."_

"Wha? Taylor, what are you sayi-"

"Dad, please!" I all but begged him, in the face of both his, and mom's confusion and uncertainty.

His mouth opened and closed, more than once looking like he was trying to think of something to say in argument. In the end, he did fold and, with great hesitation, handed me his ring.

Not really knowing what it was I was doing, I set it on the floor and stepped back, keeping close to mom. Dad did the same, his eyes alternating between me and the ring with the same worried look on it as earlier.

I reached for mom's hand again, and let my power course through me. The world turned gray, and I focused down on the ring; my power reached out towards it. I felt a connection, one even stronger than before, spark to life, as though something was pulling at the bright light that was the only color I could see.

"A Phantom in your hand. A chosen vessel within your reach. All you need now is to deepen the connection. Follow your instincts. There are words on the tip of your tongue. Do not hold on to them. Let them out, and you will have your answers."

The voice was louder this time, but no less compelling. I could fight it, if I wanted to; it was nudging me, but it wasn't forcing anything. But I didn't want to. Not right now.

I didn't know what I wanted to say. What I was _supposed_ to say. But it didn't matter, because I would say what I needed to regardless. So I took a deep breath and let the words flow from my mouth.

With every word that came out, I knew, more and more, that deep down, it came from my heart.

"Raging Spirits, Rally to My Banner! Royal Chartreuse!"

The glow where I held on to mom grew brighter, encompassing her whole being. She had just enough time to yelp before it condensed her into a small orb, and this, I knew that dad saw as well. A part of me worried for mom, but for the most part, I somehow knew that it was going to be alright. So instead, I focused on the ring again, and _pushed_.

"Confine!"

The orb launched into the ring, which exploded with the same light. I looked away for all of a second, and shielded my eyes. To my side, I saw dad do the same, and at once, the two of us lowered our hands and turned our heads to look at the result of what I just did.

"I... uh... what?" mom stuttered in confusion, and I sort of felt the same.

That was it? Really? What was light show for, then? I didn't know what would happen, sure, but I was expecting something a little more than-

"Annette...?"

I swear, I heard my neck snap as I turned back to look at dad.

Eyes wide, and jaw dropped so far down that it almost hit the floor, it was clear as day that he was _looking_ at mom. That he could see her.

Actually, at a second glance, mom no longer had that blue glow about her. A single possibility popped into my head, and looked down at the floor to confirm. Three humanoid shadows were now there, where it had, just seconds ago, been two.

"Danny!"

Mom's shout was all the warning either of us got before she was on him, tears running down her eyes even as she smashed her lips onto dad's, her arms wrapping around him so tightly that I was surprised he was still able to breathe. I didn't think his eyes could get wider than they already were, but they did. It took him a full five seconds to respond, but mom didn't seem to mind. He hugged her back eventually, and returned her kiss, his wide eyes closing to savor the moment.

It was every other teenager's worst nightmare, seeing their parents engage in such an activity. To me, it was a memory I knew I'd treasure to my dying days, and likely beyond, wherever that may be.

In time, they broke apart and just looked into each other's eyes. Whatever doubt dad had about everything I said was gone completely, I was sure. The way the two of them seemed to communicate just by staring at each other like that was something I definitely wouldn't be able to replicate on my own, no matter what I did.

Goddammit, I was crying again. And mom and dad were crying too, but none of us were sad. The smiles on our faces couldn't be any wider.

With perfect synchronization, my parents turned to look at me, their locked arms opening invitingly for me. No words needed to be said as I lunged in between them, wrapping them both up in my arms.

If earlier, I felt good in just one of their embrace, I felt a hundred times better with both their arms wrapped around me.

No words needed to be said. The comfort of just being able to touch each other was enough. I wanted to savor it for as long as it could last.

The hourglass floating above mom could wait. I don't know what it meant, but it wasn't a danger. That made it less important than this moment. I could think about it some other time.

-X-

 **AN:** And that's this chapter and prologue arc done with. Next up will be an interlude from a few people's perspectives, then we'll have a little time skip to move things along a bit faster.


	5. Chapter 5

**Interlude**

 **1xGS  
**  
In the void beyond reality were many beings. Gods, spirits, angels, demons; all of these have been used as titles for them at some point in their existence. In many ways, they could all apply, depending on what one defined such a thing as. Omnipotent, however, was not one of them. They had their own laws, hierarchies, limitations, and many more things that prevented them from shaping everything else to their own bidding. Yet their power could never truly be measured. In their realms, their expertise, these beings were without equal. Yet, when they dabbled in another's, things always got... complicated.

Such was the case now.

In a realm that was both contained and infinite, two beings stood opposite each other.

On one side was a woman, at least in form. Her skin was white, not in the sense that humans normally thought of, but actually white, with just tint of greenish hue. If that wasn't enough to convince one that she wasn't human, then her featureless face certainly would have. Upon her head was a crown like a deer's antlers, each branch of the horns made of bark from a different tree, changing by the second. A tangible, visible breeze flowed from its base, down to her feet like hair, dotted with hundreds of different flower petals and tiny insects that refused to cease to moving in the wind. Her body was garbed in a gown, patterned as though made from a million leaves stitched together; were one to look closer, however, they would notice that each 'leaf' was in fact made from the skin of an animal, not a pair of the same make, and all undulating every now and then in their own way, as if still alive. It would be as though someone took the very meaning of life, as it is known on the Earths, and gave it form.

On the other was a being opposite her in many ways. At least seven feet tall, the 'man' was completely covered in gray armor, dotted with spikes that would encumber any normal person, yet was worn by him with comfort. A skull shaped emblem jutted out near the center of his chest, above where his heart would be, its eyes, nose and mouth aglow with the azure flame that lay beneath; wisps of the cold fire flickered outwards. His horned helmet was fashioned with a skull mask, yellowed as if with age, yet polished like steel; its eyes were aglow with the same azure light. A cloak clasped closed with chains covered most of his form -even allowing for his horns to pass through them- and seemed to suck in what little light was in the area apart from his own. In front of him, stabbed into the groundless floor, was a longsword, far too thick for any normal man, and made of the same metal as his armor, his hands resting upon its pommel.

Glowing, azure eyes glared at the being before him.

 _"You granted dominion over my territory to a mortal."_ _  
_  
It was neither question nor accusation that came from the armored being's form, merely a statement of fact, yet conveying his absolute displeasure all the same.

The other being hummed. A normal person would have said that it conveyed the sense of a person crossing their arms as a show of defiance or protest, yet she herself did not actually move. _"A necessity, I assure you. Just as I assure you that I did not mean to offend,"_ she said, somehow sounding both dismissive and placating at once. _"That mortal, had she been left alone, would have been a linchpin to a disaster that would strike my worlds. One that would wipe all life from them completely. No one wants that to happen."_ _  
_  
The other being grumbled, taking the female's words into consideration.

 _"That changes nothing,"_ he finally said, _"A thousand ways existed for you to prevent such an occurrence. Any other power, those solely yours, would suffice. Indeed, you had given her three such talents. What reason was there to grant her the skill of my chosen? More pressingly, by what authority did you grant her such, when I had given none?"_ _  
_  
Not missing a beat, the female answered. _"The power of Chartreuse is one capable of granting many miracles. More than that, it is one that requires the user to make allies, friends, family. Power alone would have been useless, should the child continue on her own. If I had not given her its power, she would have surely done just that. It was in her nature to pursue things on her own."_ _  
_  
A snort of amusement interrupted her, a rarity from the male being, a fact which only served to surprise the woman further. _"You would work to oppose the nature of one of your children? You whom your pawn knows as Mother Nature would do such a thing, a truly ironic novelty, that."_ _  
_  
 _"Perhaps,"_ the woman conceded, _"but if such is what is necessary, then I will just have to bear the hypocrisy."_ __

 _"And what of authority? What reason have I to not simply take back the power you have granted unto your pawn?"_ _  
_  
It was the Mother Nature's turn to laugh. _"My, but do you not remember, Death?"_ she teased, _"It was by your own words that you had given me authority."_

The azure light of the male entity's eyes narrowed in displeasure. _"If that is so, you would do well to remind me, Earth Mother, for I am afraid my memory fails me,"_ he said, his fingers tapping at the pommel of his blade.

 _"I suppose it does,"_ she jabbed, though it got no reaction in turn. _"Need I remind you when we last discussed my little problem? When I told you that I may need to take actions that would delay or hasten the death of mortals? Was it not you who said that eliminating the parasites before they could escape once more was more important? Was it not you who told me to 'Do with death, whatever is needed,'?"_

The fire in the male's chest flared explosively, the only sign of Death's outrage. The being himself remained silent, allowing his anger to simmer and cool.

 _"Hmph... I see now that the Fae truly were born of your first children,"_ he finally replied, the grip on his sword relaxing, _"Too long have I only witnessed your forthrightness in both peace and anger. I shall remember this moment."_ __

 _"So you approve then?"_ _  
_  
 _"There is little I can change about the past,"_ Death answered, _"the future, however, is different. In light of my own actions, I shall concede to allowing your pawn to keep my gift, provided she aids me in turn."_ _  
_  
The pale woman radiated a warning anger. _"You shall not endanger her when she is not yet ready."_ _  
_  
 _"I have no plans to do so,"_ said Death, _"A pawn is most useful when it reaches the end of the board. I shall allow it, aid it, even, so long as I am aided in turn."_ He paused, eyes flickering to the side as another source of light in the void made itself known. _"Tell me, is that satisfactory, mortal?"_ _  
_  
Mother Nature turned towards the source as well, having long since sensed the presence of her contractor.

This time, Taylor Hebert was in her own body, clad in a white robe that reached down to her feet, the same as when she'd last been brought to the void. Though her patron was shocked that she'd come into her power in only a short time, it was no match for the surprise and fear that Taylor felt as she met those Azure eyes with her own.

"Wh- who... who are you?" she managed to stammer out, taking an unconscious step back.

 _"That is of no importance. All you need to know is that I am the source of one of your powers."_ Death's answer was brusque and left no room for argument, a fact that exasperated the female spirit to no end. _"Now answer me, mortal: If I would allow you to keep the power to commune and control the dead, will, in turn, aid me?"_ __

 _"Would it kill you to be more tactful at times?"_ It was a rhetorical question, of course. If Death died, well that would just not end well for all of existence. And it wasn't like either of the two in front of Mother Nature even acknowledged what she'd said.

Taylor's attention was squarely focused on Death, her mind too busy as it whirled to come to an answer to think about her, even though the World Spirit knew that she was very aware of her patron's presence. Sometimes, heightened instincts were a huge burden, especially since self preservation was so high above the things it worked towards. Still, Mother Nature felt a modicum of pride for the child; it took a lot for a mortal to muster enough courage to answer the reaper, even when asked directly in such a benign manner.

"I... um... so I'll... be able to keep talking to my mom then?" She asked haltingly, even as her confidence rose with each word. Death nodded in reply. Subtle as it was, it called forth a flare of determination from the girl. "Then I'l do it. Anything to keep this power."

"Never mind." Mother Nature resisted the very mortal urge to smack her face at the absurdly dangerous phrase that her chosen child had unwittingly used. It certainly did not help that Death had the gall to turn a mocking glare her way as he laughed at her answer.

 _"Very well, Chosen One."_ And of course he'd immediately taken advantage of it, his essence already binding the two in their own contract. She'd have to teach Taylor more than just her powers, it seemed. That had probably been a good idea from the very beginning. Still, with Death already in action, she could hardly do anything anymore.

Speaking of the metal clad Greater Spirit, the chains that held his cloak closed had just burst apart, the dark cloth bursting and twisting until it coalesced into a tightly wrapped shield of the same make as the armor that surrounded his entire frame. The skull markings on his pauldrons and gauntlets were now exposed, flaring with the same fire that was in his eyes and chest. Lines of the light covered even more of his form, altogether adding to his visage as a dark knight.

Shield and sword were both stabbed firmly into the massless ground as azure flames traveled down the Greater Spirit's arms, taking shape above his palms as he held them out.

On his left hand, the flames formed into a skull. In shape, it was quite similar to those so stereotypically found in the deserts; the head of a steer or similar beast, had the center of its skull been perforated as if it possessed a third eye above its head. The horns were altered as well, looking more like Death's own than any natural animal's, with a ring of steel between the two points. The faint glow of the Spirit's fire wafted out of the skull's crevices as the flame which created it receded, leaving no room to argue that it was merely a well crafted decoration.

On the right, it formed into a tome, nondescript but for its aged appearance. It looked like an ancient diary, dug up from some Victorian mansion. A simple looking lock kept it closed, but Mother Nature had to guess, it would be all but impossible to force open for any natives on her worlds. The pages were yellowed with age and their edges worn ever so slightly, but not enough to give the impression that it would fall apart with the slightest damage. The cover was, much like Death himself, a dark gray; lines of azure framed the face and back and lined its spine. On the front were two lines of text, written in the same color:

 _ **To Those Who Have Forgotten**_

 _ **Memento Mori**_

With a gesture, both objects shot off towards Taylor, eliciting a startled yelp from the shocked teenager. She brought her arms up to cover her face, but needn't have bothered. As soon as the objects got within an inch of her, they were enveloped in Chartreuse light and dissolved into motes that shot into Taylor's now shimmering form.

Taylor hesitantly lowered her arms as she noticed the lack of impact and looked at them in confusion before turning the same face towards Death. It made her unvoiced question rather obvious. Of course, Death wasn't one to explain something he didn't feel the need to.

 _"That book will tell you all you need to know to curry favor from me,"_ he said instead, _"You need only do the first few pages, and I will consider your use of my gift fully paid. Go beyond that, and I will reward you in kind."_ The azure eyes of the Greater Spirit turned towards his counterpart. _"With this, our conflict has been resolved, Earth Mother. I will leave you to your business."_ _  
_  
To the female spirit's mounting frustration, her opposite had already begun to leave, his shield dissolving back into the cloak around him, their chains reforming.

The last thing he did was look over his shoulder at Taylor, a single eye staring straight into her soul.

 _"If you still wish to address me by name, there are many to choose from, but I would prefer my most favored title."_ He turned away, flames, darker than any other he'd used before, danced around him, marking his impending departure. _"You may call me:_ _ **Azrael**_ _."_ _  
_  
-X-  
 _  
_  
Death's departure had been pompous, as expected. For all his posturing as one of the oldest Greater Spirits -the overly formal and sometimes flowery speech, the archaic mannerism, and the intentional vagueness- nothing changed the fact that he had a flare for dramatics. It was stupid, and a waste of energy, but it definitely left an impression. Everything he did since Taylor appeared, he could have done without so much as moving an inch, but he still decided to put on a show.

 _"I'll never understand that old codger."_ _  
_  
Mother Nature shook her head of such thoughts. Not that it was necessary, but it was the natural reaction that a human would make, and it always paid to have those when dealing with them. She turned her faceless gaze towards Taylor, who stared back at her with a questioning look.

 _"Yes, this is my actual appearance,"_ she answered before her contractor could find the words.

"It's... definitely different," was all Taylor could say, and even that was unsure.

The Greater Spirit didn't bother to dignify it with a response.

 _"Do you have any idea how foolishly you acted earlier?"_ she admonished, hands on her her hips in what was a universal symbol of a lecturing mother. From Taylor's flinch, Mother Nature concluded that her tone may have been a bit harsher than was needed, but she soldiered on all the same. _"I suppose it's partly my fault in the end for not warning you, so I'll let it go this time. In the future, however, you would do well to watch what you say to Spirits, Greater or no. And above all, you should_ never _say that you will do anything, regardless of what they offer. To do so would effectively hand your life to them."_

"Uhh... you mean like with the Fae in old fairy tales?"

 _"_ Exactly _like the Fae in old fairy tales,"_ the spirit emphasized, _"The Fae are just an example of Lesser Spirits; those born of my own line, in fact. And all the habits you would read about from the days when I still allowed them to roam your world still are assuredly true. Never form agreements with them so easily, no matter what you feel. They are more than likely manipulating you in those cases."_ _  
_  
"You mean like you did?" Taylor couldn't help but ask. She might have been fearful about it too if the girl wasn't already fully aware that Mother Nature had her life in her hands already.

 _"That's different. I actually care about your well being."_ _  
_  
"Well sure..." Taylor trailed of, her mind wandering in a direction that Mother Nature already knew she would hate. "But, I mean, a lot of the Fae were the same too, and they still royally screwed over the people who made deals with them, just because they didn't actually understand _what_ was good for people."

 _"Gu... I... buh."_ _  
_  
"I'm sputtering. ME! Goddess of the Earth, Mother of Life on my worlds, and some slip of a girl is making _me_ sputter!"

 _"Yeah, well I'm Mother Nature. Knowing what is naturally good for people is part of who I am!"_ She finally got out. From her tone, it wouldn't have been difficult to imagine her face flushed from embarrassment. _"Where did you even get the courage to start talking about me in such a way?"_ _  
_  
The girl had the decency to look away, a sheepish expression clear on her face.

 _"No, I suppose you wouldn't know yourself, would you?"_ Mother Nature groaned. _"I would wager it is because you just came face to face with Death. But never mind that. We have other things to take care of, and I'm sure that you have questions you want answers for."_ Taylor nodded in confirmation. _"Very well. You would only be able to come back here once you manged your first Confinement. Though it surprises me somewhat that you managed it in a single day, it is a pleasant one. Please, do tell me about how your day went."_ _  
_  
-X-

The accidental discovery of the Chartreuse's true power aside, Taylor's tale had not been so unlike what Mother Nature expected. She had woken up and met a phantom before she'd even left her hospital room. She'd even learned that he was a phantom ( _"I'll explain as soon as you're done, but I can assure you, that was no Ghost"_ ) before she'd gone back to sleep. She'd then seen her mother's phantom, which led to what brought her here. Her family had had a touching reunion that lasted until Annette Hebert's timer ran out. That had caused a minor panic, up until Taylor managed to calm _both_ her parents down ( _"I take it you've figured out the purpose of the hourglass, then?"_ "Yes. It wasn't hard, honestly." _"Good to hear."_ ). Explaining all the noise to the nurse hadn't been Taylor's favorite part, but her dad managed to take them through it well enough. She'd spent whatever time the three of them had on their own playing the part of messenger girl for her mother ("It wasn't as annoying as I thought it would be.").

Other highlights of the day included her obligatory final check up so she could be cleared and meeting her former roommate's niece ("Mom and dad said that she was nice enough when dad met her yesterday. She was the one who brought the plaque. But I can't get rid of this feeling that I've seen her somewhere before." _"You probably have, if that's your enhanced instincts talking."_ ), who'd been kind enough to let Taylor go with her to the Morgue so she could pay her final respects ( _"I'm surprised she allowed such a thing."_ "I was too. I said that I might have felt some connection since he died just a few hours before I woke up. I guess she was just really religious and spiritual." _"I wish more of you were the same, truth be told."_ ). It had given her a chance to talk to Morris again, along with a few less savory phantoms. The day had been capped off when her parent's, or rather, her father's official visiting hours were over, and they promised to return to pick her up the next morning. Taylor had gone to sleep not much later.

 _"Which leads us to now,"_ Mother Nature concluded for her, her blank face giving off the impression of a pleased smile. _"You've really had an eventful day today, and I can only imagine that more will follow."_

"I just wish they could all be as good as this one," she sighed wistfully, "but they won't, will they?"

The Greater Spirit nodded morosely. _"All the more reason to make the most of such moments when they arrive,"_ she advised sagely. _"Life is a nebulous and chaotic thing. Even being the instrument of my will, one who possesses my blessings, will not keep you safe from the world completely. Not even close. Death can come at any moment; quite literally, as I'm sure you now know. Which is why-"_ she paused, and her arms reached out to bring her contractor closer to her embrace, much to Taylor's surprise, _"though you should never abandon your duty, when moments where you can indulge in the joys of life come your way, it always pays to consider taking the chance to do so. Enjoy life, even as you do your duty. So long as you give everything its due time, you will find path to the future that you seek. Do not force yourself until you break. After all, one often finds their destiny on the road to avert it."_ _  
_  
"I'm pretty sure you misquoted that," Taylor pointed out teasingly as she giggled in the Earth Mother's embrace.

 _"I am the source of all human lives. If anyone misquoted it, it was that Fontaine fellow."_

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works."

 _"And I'm sure that_ I _am the goddess of nature and can bend its laws any way I want."_

"I think quotes fall more into the laws of language, literature and social sciences."

 _"Indeed, and those are all part of nature."_

"Yeah, well, so is death, and I'm pretty sure you weren't the guy in the literally edgiest suit of armor ever that left just half an hour ago."

...

...

 _"Touché , child. Touché."_

With one last laugh, Mother Nature let her captive go, finally allowing Taylor to face her again. _"This is all well and good, child, but as you've noticed, time is still passing, and you do not have forever. I'm sure there are things you wish to make clear. Now is a good time to ask your questions."_ _  
_  
"Ah, right," Taylor said, taking the time to recenter herself and organize her thoughts. Despite the lack of any actual air, she took deep, focusing breath as she began. "You said earlier that ghosts and phantoms were different. What's that about then?"

Mother Nature 'smiled'. _"I did say that, didn't I? Well, to put it in the simplest terms, they are both forms of Spirits, sentient and often sapient entities composed entirely of the soul. There are three broad categories amongst our kind: True Spirits, Phantoms, and Ghosts."_ She raised her hand, with three of the fingers extended and began counting them of. _"True Spirits are those who are 'born' naturally. That is to say, they had no prior life, and are instead born from concepts; the Greater Spirits, such as yours truly, or through the will and power of Greater Spirits, such as the Fae, these are the Lesser Spirits. In this way, they are very different from the other types of spirits._

 _"Phantoms and Ghosts are more similar, in that they are both formed from the deceased. The difference lies in how. A Phantom is little more than the soul of the deceased in its purest form. All those who die will create a Phantom, though how long they linger depends on the individual. The souls of those with no true sentience, like trees, will only linger for fractions of seconds before they dissipate completely. Animals and humans who were at peace when they died, or at least_ made _peace with their deaths will usually linger for only a few days before they dissolve, whereas those with many regrets or died violently could go on their own for two to three years before they dissipate. The longest I know lasted for five."_

She quickly held up her other hand to stall Taylor's question, much to the girl's consternation. Mother Nature tried to express reassurance as best as she could, even as she continued.

 _"Ghosts, by contrast, are much more sinister. They are born when fragments of a person's soul is tainted with extreme amounts of negative emotions, whether their own or their surroundings'. In some cases, the soul of someone who died will only produce a ghost; this is often the result of a life filled with nothing but anger, hate, sadness, and other negative emotions. More often, a soul will instead produce both a Phantom and a Ghost of differing strengths, depending on the person. The results of such dual births are often antagonistic towards the other, with the stronger of the two killing the opposite and absorbing the soul fragments that they possess in order to become 'whole' again. But where Phantoms are exactly like their living counterpart in terms of personality, Ghosts are much more like ravenous beasts, outside of those old enough to develop sapience of their own. They possess an instinctual attraction to Mana, and the ways to gather it, and they will devote the entirety of their existence to it in order to stave off their dissipation."_ _  
_  
With a gesture, she permitted Taylor to speak again, not that the Greater Spirit wasn't already aware of what she would ask.

"I get the feeling that I should probably ask about Mana next," Taylor began, the Earth Mother urging her to continue, "But honestly, I want to know about that dissipation you talked about earlier."

 _"You are worried that it will happen to your mother?"_ Taylor nodded. _"On her own, it will certainly happen. Soon too, as it has been two years since her passing. However, as the wielder of the Chartreuse -your power to channel the Phantoms of others- there is a way you can prevent it."_ _  
_  
"Well how do I do that?" the girl followed up, a sense of urgency in her voice.

 _"Calm down, child. It is a simple thing,"_ Mother Nature said reassuringly, _"You only need to form a contract with her. Bind her to yourself with your power."_ Taylor opened her mouth to speak. _"And before you ask, no, that does not mean you gain control of them. It is an agreement; you will provide them with the means to stay as a Phantom, and they, in turn, will be there for you to Confine them when you need their aid."_ _  
_  
Taylor sighed with relief, to Mother Nature's continued amusement. Really, people in other worlds weren't nearly so anal about being controlled through supernatural means. It wasn't a bad thing per se, but the fact that they were just like that was something the Greater Spirit found funny.

"How do I form a contract then?"

The nature goddess hummed in contemplation. _"That is a tad more complicated to explain,"_ she began, pausing as she thought of the best method to get her point across, _"the general gist of all you need to know for now is that you need to be able to supply enough Mana -the amount differing case by case- in order to bind them to you while striking an agreement between you two. Now, in the case of your mother, it shouldn't be hard. I'm sure she'd jump at the chance to be with you, so just the basic agreement where you will sustain her, and she will be there for you will work. Some Phantoms, however, may impose a sort of condition for their agreement. For example, they could make it so that you'll only Confine them under certain conditions, or make it so that you need to perform some ritual or complete a task before they form one with you. A bit one sided, perhaps, but in their defense, you start out holding pretty much all the cards. There are other, more complicated minutiae beyond that, of course, but those are either too advanced a concept for you to think about now, or are restricted to very circumstantial situations."_

"Ugh... and it goes back to Mana anyway," Taylor groaned, eliciting an amused chuckle from her patron.

 _"You will find, dear child, that most things in the world beyond mortals will revolve around Mana."_ _  
_  
The black haired girl rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, a testy expression on her face. "Well then what _is_ Mana? And more importantly, how do I get it?"

Mother Nature held out her hand in answer, wordlessly asking for Taylor to do the same. Once she did, the Earth Mother's hand began to shine with light, much like the time when she'd given Taylor her power, although there was less color to it this time. Still, the feeling of raw power that she held was palpable. _"_ This. _.. is Mana,"_ said the spirit as she pushed the light towards Taylor.

The girl reached out and grasped it with her hand, breaking apart the light as it flowed into her being.

 _"Mana, dear child, is the energy in everything,"_ answered the Earth Mother, her arms spread wide to emphasize her point. _"All things in existence produce Mana, just by virtue of existing. It is to the point that it can even be said to be the byproduct of existence. An infinite energy, just waiting to be tapped into. Or at least in theory."_ _  
_  
"That... doesn't exactly tell me a lot."

Mother Nature waved a finger at her in mock admonishment. _"Patience, dear child. I'm getting there."_ She paused more as a show of recomposing herself than any actual reason; a fact which, from the look of it, Taylor was well aware of. _"Anyway, all things, whether they are alive or not, natural or made, produce Mana; even the bodies of the dead produce it. Though it_ can _be created through conversion, it doesn't need to be. It is a form of energy that can be_ made _. I'm sure, with your level of education, you can easily tell just how important that is."_

"If that's true, then it could be a source of infinite clean energy." The answer was pretty much immediate for the girl. Since the dawn of Parahumans, hundreds of Tinkers had tried to find a theoretical holy grail of energy that would fit a description like that.

 _"Among others, yes,"_ Mother Nature confirmed, 'smiling' in delight. _"That is, however, only in theory. In practice, most things that can utilize Mana, or_ need _to use Mana, will end up using more than they can produce. Most Spirits fall under this category. All spirits need Mana in order to stay alive; being deprived of it is one of the surest ways to kills us, even if it won't necessarily be permanent. Greater Spirits such as myself can often sustain ourselves because we can increase our Mana production when we fulfill our function. Death, for example, produces more Mana when he ferries the souls of the deceased to their respective destinations, or manages the stages of natural reincarnation. In my case, I produce more Mana by ensuring that the Earths are running smoothly."_

"And that's why you need to stop the parasite from destroying them!" Taylor concluded, her eyes going wide in realization.

The Earth Mother nodded in affirmation, beaming with pride.

 _"Indeed, that is why I sought your help. But others are not so lucky. Lesser Spirits can function similar to Greater Spirits, but need to put in more effort for the equivalent reward. Phantoms and Ghosts, however, cannot do so on their own, and their souls will lose integration once they run out; this is known as dissipation. It is for this reason that Death will usually take them to either the Netherworld or Celestia; although what happens there, I will leave for another time, when it would be more relevant."_ _  
_  
 _"And of course, there are other ways to obtain Mana. It can be transferred from one to another, as I've clearly shown, and has in fact been used as a form of currency in worlds where its use is widespread. In fact, it is not so different from you forming a contract, as Phantoms who are contracted to a Chartreuse user will naturally produce more Mana, so it can be thought of as a salary, and the initial cost as a sort of down payment. This allows them to stay integrated indefinitely."_

She gave Taylor a moment to let it all sink in, something which the teenager seemed to be doing surprisingly well at. It was a quality of her chosen that made Mother Nature all the happier about her choice.

Finally, the black haired teen looked up at the Earth Mother and spoke. "So if I'm thinking about this right, I can use the Mana you gave me to make contracts with Phantoms so that they can help me with whatever goal you, and I guess Death, or Azrael, wants me to achieve." She paused to think further. "Hmm... I'm also going to guess that you'll pay me with more Mana for that too, so I can make even more contracts. Is that right?"

The Greater Spirit laughed with pride. _"Yes! Yes! Exactly right! You really were a good choice for my instrument."_ A blush bloomed across Taylor's face at the praise, further adding to Mother Nature's amusement. _"_ _That will certainly be one of the ways you can gain more Mana to strive further ahead. Although certainly not your main method, I'm sure."_ _  
_  
The brunette's sheepish expression morphed into a questioning one, although her face was still flushed from the adulation. "It won't?" She asked confusedly, "Well what other way is there then?"

If one were to ask the girl what emotion Mother Nature's expressionless face radiated with at that moment, the only answer she would be able to honestly give was predatory amusement.

 _"The one method that's proven effective since the dawn of time, my dear: Through Force."  
_  
-X-

 **AN:** And with that, we come to the close of the prologue arc. Taylor's learned a bit more about the world beyond mortals' eyes, including the beginnings of just how she's going to get a lot of her stuff. Not mention, her primary weapon and one of her secondary weapons is in her hands now. The next chapter jumps ahead a bit, with Taylor actually starting to practice with her newfound abilities and weapons, as well as the explanation of what happened to the ones she has now and _how_ she's going to pull off some of the crazy shit that's done in Phantom Brave.

That one should be out by next week.


	6. Chapter 6

**Jill of All Trades**

 **2.1  
**

 _"All objects have a soul, no matter what they are, living or no. In time, this can allow objects to gain sentience. The countries in Asia, I believe, have legends about such things. It is through these souls that you'll find your arsenal."_

I crouched under the brush, peering at my targets through the gaps in the foliage. Like a phantom, they had no shadow, and were surrounded by a faint aura; dark and wrong, each was a miasma of taint and negativity, a grave contrast to a Phantom's light blue. Ghosts. Three of them, in fact.

I've seen a lot of these in the past week; fought them, and killed them, for a lack of better word. Like most ghosts in the area, these were ghosts of animals. Puppies, from the looks of it, which only made me angrier. Their forms were a twisted reflection of what they once were, with parts of their skin looking torn and perpetually soggy, dripping with water that never reached the ground, and if it wasn't for their body proportions, I probably would have pegged them as being full grown dogs before they died; the damn things were the size of Siberian Huskies.

Consequently, that also meant that all three of them were _quite_ powerful, at least compared to most ghosts I've fought so far.

It was a good thing I hadn't Confined yet.

 _"All beings who can use Mana can tap into the souls of objects; some better than others. You'll need to learn to do the same."_

I breathed in as silently as I could to calm my nerves and positioned myself to strike. These three were dangerous, but I was upwind, and they were downhill, and I still had all the cards I could play ready. I probably wouldn't get a better chance against these three, even if I could find them again later.

"Raging Spirits, Rally to My Banner. Royal Chartreuse."

As I whispered the words, I felt power coursing through my body. It was as though every little sound became louder, every color, more vibrant, and the feel of the spirits I stored with my power all the more tangible.

 _"Ready?"_

 _"Whenever you are, Little Owl."_

 _"On your orders."_

I let a smile cross my face. _"Let's get started then."_ I threw my right hand back, making sure to keep it as hidden away as possible. Motes of light gathered in my palm, coalescing silently until I could feel a plastic cylinder in my grip. Astralisation, Mother Nature had called it. It could generously be called the opposite of Confinement; the act of taking an object and using my Chartreuse to compress the matter into its soul, allowing me to store it and reverse the process when needed.

The object in question was a spear. A simple one, designed primarily for fishing and bought from a hobby shop, but a spear all the same. I connected to its soul in short order, an achievement born from days of practice that I could honestly say I was quite proud of. I felt myself grow stronger with the connection, not enough to be superhuman, I was sure, but I could probably hit a lot harder than most people would expect me to now. It wasn't the only benefit of wielding it, but it was the most significant one.

The best part was that the ghosts hadn't even noticed me yet.

I burst out from under the bush and pushed myself as fast as I could, aided by the slope of the ground beneath me. Instinct guided my feet each step of the way and kept me from tripping on roots and rocks alike. Thirty meters. Twenty. Fifteen. At ten, I lunged at the closest one, the small pack only realizing then that I could actually see them, unlike others, so used to people being unable to interact with them. An advantage that I've abused more than once, and would probably continue to do so in the future.

"Lunge!" I shouted the name of the attack, just before the spearhead -strengthened by my connection, pierced my target's hide. It wasn't necessary, but the vocalization made tapping into the skills hidden in my weapon's soul all the easier. The beast's agonized howl was my reward, as was the weakened state of its miasma, but I couldn't celebrate yet.

My feet landed on it's back and I quickly shifted my grip on my spear to pull it out, spring-boarding off of the hound to get some distance before any of the three could react. I hit the ground with a roll that wasn't quite as perfect as I wanted, but was good enough to break my fall and let me transition into a ready stance. It proved useful almost immediately, letting me dodge one of the fresher ghost's pounce before countering with another thrust of the spear. I only managed to nick it, this time, but at least I drove it back, giving me more room to spare.

I took a moment to survey the battlefield as I calmed my breathing. The one that attacked me was still the closest, its teeth, threateningly bared, and its body coiled for another pounce. The second one seemed more wary, but also showed its teeth in an attempt at intimidation. Worryingly enough, it actually looked like it was producing flames in its mouth. Finally, the one I'd injured was at the very back. There was no visible sign of damage that wasn't already there before, but I knew from experience that that didn't mean much.

 _"Positioning's perfect, if you can get me behind them."_

I nodded curtly in acknowledgement, even if it wasn't really necessary with the Phantoms I was storing.

With measured steps, I circled the three of them, hoping to get line up the closest and furthest ghosts. The middle one wasn't having any of it, and with a bark, it sent the fire in its mouth careening at me. I barely managed a panicked jump to the side, swinging my spear as I landed to ward off the closest ghost. The small explosion as the fireball hit the raised ground behind me still managed to burn me a little, but I was fine overall.

As for my targets, the brief exchange had somehow managed set me up close enough to the kind of position I wanted, a fact I wasted no time in using. With a short toss, I changed my grip on the spear from one meant to stab and into a thrower's grip.

I let it fly not much later, too high to really hit any of them, but just the fact that it was in their direction made the first and last ghost jump out of the way. All the same, hitting them was never my intention. Instead, I reached for the spear with my power, even as it flew, focusing on one of my Phantoms all the while. "Confine!" The yellow green orb blasted out of my outstretched right hand and into the spear, fast as a bullet.

In a flash of light, the weapon became a man who quickly rolled to a stop; tall, broad shouldered, dressed for combat, and holding a shotgun. The already injured ghost had no time to react before Mana pellets peppered its form, the ring of gunfire drawing the other two's attention. The shot beast fell, its aura gone completely. "Dismissed." Even from where I stood, I could see the cocky smirk on Morris's face as he pumped his weapon.

I rolled my eyes at his quip, but kept most of my focus on materializing another item. I felt my own vitality drain away as my left hand closed around a familiar skull by the ring between its horns, the azure fire within it burning bright in the night like a demented lantern. I raised it towards the still distracted beasts and shouted, "Skull Blaster!" The fire condensed into a bullet and flew, violently striking and going through the ghost closest to me before breaking apart into wisps. Each trail was quickly sucked back into the skull, and through it, into my body, healing the minor burns and scratches I received earlier.

At the same time, Morris had already aimed the barrel of dad's old shotgun at the last of the beasts. It proved smart enough to dodge most of the shot that followed, but from the way it cried and stumbled, I was willing to bet that a few had managed to hit. I shot a brief glance at the one that I had hit, taking note of its lack of miasma. _"Two down then. Guess I won't need you for this one, mom."_ I thought, taking aim at the last of the ghosts. It looked angry, but also ready to flee. I wasn't about to let that happen.

With a big swing, I hurled the skull in my hand towards the beast's general direction, using the fading connection I had to its soul to activate another one of its inherent skills. "Wispy's Will!" It exploded in blue flames upon impact, shrouding the ghost as it yelped in surprise. At once, I felt revitalized; more so when the flames rushed towards me once more, allowing me to absorb the excess energy it drained from the target.

All three were down. A job well done, if I do say so myself.

"That was a bit disappointing." I turned to Morris as he spoke. The old soldier made his way towards me, his body completely relaxed with dad's shotgun resting on his shoulder, but his eyes scanned the battlefield the whole time, looking out for any signs of movement. "I was just getting started. Really expected more from those three."

"Better a short victory than a drawn out defeat," I shrugged, a wide grin on my face, "wasn't that what you said before?"

"Well... can't argue with that," Morris chuckled back. "How many does this make, anyway?"

I held out my hand as I tried to recall just how many ghosts I've killed already, calling Azrael's diary to my hand as I did. The shimmer of light in my peripherals told me that mom had probably left my soul storage. "seventy-six, I think," I answered uncertainly, "It's somewhere close to that, so I probably just need to take out twenty or so more to pay my debt. Pretty good for just a week's work."

An honest to god magic circle lit up and spun on the ground in front of me once I opened the book. Within seconds, a stocky, formally dressed monster appeared above it. It took one look at me, then towards the three downed ghosts before approaching them, a wicked looking scythe taking shape in its hands. It began cutting into them, causing their ethereal bodies to burst into lights that were quickly sucked up into the monster's skull face.

It disappeared just as fast as it came once the work was done, leaving nothing in its wake.

The sight of it all might have freaked me out, if I hadn't already seen the same thing dozens of times already. Not once did any of them bother acknowledging my existence with more than a passing glance. It was annoying at first, but I've since concluded that Azrael's agents were a bunch of rude assholes. Or maybe it was just this one. I honestly didn't know if I just got the same guy every time, or if they were all jerks who looked exactly the same.

Still, they did their job after I did mine, so I tolerated it. Besides, according to my patron, one of his top agents, Gig, was even worse, and could best be described in modern terms as an absolute dickbag.

"Well, I've still got plenty of time, and those were just the first three. I take it we're gonna be hunting for more?"

"The plan was to get at least ten every day, but we _are_ ahead of schedule," mom pointed out, grabbing Azrael's diary as I astralised it again. She opened it up to one of the first few pages and began reading through its content. "We weren't given a strict due date, and I'm sure I've seen more than a few areas with lots of Ghosts in the Docks."

It was a tempting idea, just leaving it be for the day, and I did spend some time thinking about it. Mother Nature's advice about enjoying life, in particular, came to mind.

No. I can't. Not now. There'll be plenty of time for that when we go back home.

I looked at mom, just standing there and waiting for my decision. It was something that had been happening a lot as of late and... I'm not really sure how to take it. It didn't feel like I was controlling her, and Mother Nature had assured me that I couldn't really do that to Phantoms, but it didn't change the fact that I was uneasy about my mom taking orders from me. I've wanted to talk about it for a while now, but there was never really much time.

My shoulders sagged as I sighed, before steeling myself. "We came here so I could get better at using my powers. We'll only have three more days from tomorrow before we have to go back home," our home, at least, although I guess it would be Morris's home now too, "I want to take advantage of it as much as I can, if that's alright with you, mom?" She had a gentle smile on her face as she just looked at me for a moment, before sounding her assent. I nodded back with a hesitant smile of my own and turned towards Morris.

"You're the boss," he said, shrugging.

I really shouldn't have expected much more than that. Morris, as I quickly came to learn, was a soldier long before everything else. I had the aching muscles every day as proof of that. Thank Gaea for Wispy's Will's self healing power. Sure, I felt a little bad about using it to kill so many fish, but at least we never had to worry about food. If only using Wispy's Will didn't somehow make most of them taste blander though. It wasn't bad, but they never tasted as good as the ones that dad actually caught normally.

"Then let's go."

-X-

The smell of fish being cooked over a fire had become a welcoming sensation for me in the past week. It always meant coming back to our little camp site, where dad spent most of his time on the nights of our trip. And didn't that idea come as a surprise.

Dad had been a lot easier to convince after seeing mom again. When they came back the day after our reunion, the very first thing I did was form a proper contract with mom, which also let her use me as an anchor. I shared with them everything I learned in my sleep that day, from what I had to do to the things that Mother Nature taught me about my powers. They'd been less than pleased, and dad had wanted to forbid me at first but... well, I managed to convince him. Mom helped, surprisingly enough, given how she didn't look any more willing to let me go into danger than dad.

After that, it was like he'd made a complete 180. He began to think up of ways to help me get better at doing what I did. The first thing he pointed out was that none of us really knew much about fighting. He'd gotten into some rough situations in the past and could be pretty difficult with something like a tire iron or crowbar in his hands, but he wanted me to actually learn to defend myself too. That was where Morris came in. He took twice as much Mana as mom to form a contract with, and pretty much drained me completely, but it was worth it. The experience and expertise of an old soldier had quickly proven itself more than useful.

Then there was everything else that followed.

I don't know if having mom around again just gave him a cooler head to work with, but dad had been able to put huge pressure on Winslow for a case of negligence. They paid more than enough money to cover for my hospital bills _if_ I had stayed there for as long as originally projected, and gave them no way to back out of it, even after finding out that Panacea had healed early into my medical internment. Compensation for trauma, apparently. That left us with a lot of cash to burn, and a big part of it had been spent to book a ten day camping trip to the Brockton Hills Recreational Park, a hunting ground and camp site all the way at edge of the city proper, deep into Captain's Hill.

The fact that it was off season for both camping or hunting probably helped cheapen the price, but no one questioned it. As far as everyone was concerned, dad had just pooled all of his accumulated days off to bond with his recently hospitalized daughter so she could get better faster.

It helped that it was completely true, too. Just not in the way most people thought it was.

Just like every other night since we first got here, dad was waiting for us to come back to our chosen camp site, standing by an improvised grill where he cooked the day's catch. And like every day, his face was a rictus of worry while he waited. I felt some guilt about making him worry about me like that, but if it was the price to pay for my family to be together, then it was well worth it.

"Dad, we're back!" The change was instantaneous; he'd jumped a little in surprise before relief took over his countenance as he finally took notice of my approach. I'm happy to say that there wasn't a scratch on me for him to worry about. Not feeling any pain when he hugged me was nice. "How was your night?" I asked him once he let me go.

He chuckled. "My night?" dad parroted incredulously, "Nothing exciting's happened to me since we got here Taylor. I should be the one asking about yours." He guided me back to the middle of camp, past the grill and to our small portable table and chairs, grabbing some fish and potatoes along the way. "How did things go tonight, anyway? Did you find out what the other two powers you got are? Are you injured anywhere? Should I grab the first aid box?"

I rolled my eyes at his over-protectiveness, even if it did make me feel warm inside. "It was great, I still haven't, I'm not injured, and no, dad, you don't need to get it," I assured him, showing off all the tiny tips and tears in my clothes, and the unmarred skin beneath. Maybe it wasn't the best way to keep him from worrying too much, but at least he knew that nothing that happened stuck with me. He seemed satisfied about it, if nothing else. "And what do you mean nothing exciting's happened to you since we got here?" I teased, "you and mom weren't exactly being quiet the other night."

Before this moment, I thought that the whole gag where people fell off their chairs when sufficiently shocked was just from TV. Now I knew otherwise. And the blush on his face! Even with just a gas lamp and campfire as a light source, it was _still_ visible. Mom wasn't doing much better in that department either, and it was at this point that I honestly wished I had a camera that could take photos of phantoms. It would've been perfect.

That would teach them to traumatize their daughter like that.

Alas, it would seem I had to content myself with just burning the image into my head instead. If only that superstition about cameras capturing the image of the soul was actually true.

"Ugh..." dad groaned, picking himself back up and dusting his clothes, "we were sort of convinced that you'd gone to sleep by then."

"We waited just for that too," mom added, not quite able to look me in the eyes. I didn't blame her. I wasn't able to do the same to her _or_ dad for most of yesterday. Morris had at least lent a sympathetic hand by providing me with a distraction. I might have appreciated it more if said distraction didn't involve him dipping back into his days as a drill sergeant.

To be fair to them, I _had_ fallen asleep. They just woke me up. But hey, I didn't need to tell them that.

"Mom, you can only stay solid for two hours at most, and I have to be awake for you to do that," I pointed out, deadpan, and with my arms crossed, both to get the unspoken words across and to maximize the embarrassment. Revenge was sweet. "Speaking of," I called dad's wedding ring into the palm my hand and concentrated, "Confine!" It lit up with a now familiar chartreuse light, jumping off of my hand and taking mom's form beside me, where she took the remaining chair on the table. I nodded to myself in satisfaction of my success. It always took a lot more concentration to confine someone when I haven't used my incantation for a while, but, as mom, dad and my new teacher pointed out, people wouldn't always give me the time to say it. Especially if they found out how much easier it made things for me.

Oh, and mom _still_ couldn't look at me now. Or dad. Well, okay, no, she was doing that thing where she'd glance at dad for a bit, then turn away when he looked back at her. In fact, dad was doing the same thing. Weren't they supposed to be over that phase once they grew up? They've been married for eighteen years now! Sixteen if you counted the whole 'Til death do us part' vow, and even _that_ didn't really hold up, since Death and his (asshole) agents left Phantoms alone until they dissipated, which led to mom hanging around dad and me pretty much ever since the car crash. But I digress. They were acting like teenagers now! Was that just how all couples acted when they were mutually embarrassed? Maybe her parents were just weird and she never noticed before?

I sighed in my best rendition of false exasperation. "You know, it's a good thing that Mother Nature told me yesterday night that Phantoms and the living can't reproduce," I said, shaking my head exaggeratedly, "not that I would mind a little brother or sister, but I don't really know how I'd handle one that was half dead. Or explain how I got one in the first place without outing myself." And wouldn't that just be the most embarrassing way to get outed. I could see the headlines now: Local Dock Admin Impregnates Dead Wife; Reveals that Daughter is a Parahuman. "Next time, could you two at least go somewhere further, please?"

"Can we stop talking about this if we said yes?" Dad offered in exchange. It was honestly a lousy trade, but he was all but pleading, mom looked like she wanted to do the same, and I already had my fun anyway, so I agreed. Both of them sagged with relief.

It didn't take them long to recover from the distracting topic, and we began eating our meal soon afterwards. Sure, mom didn't really need to eat, and when I brought her onto the field, she usually didn't get to, either, but I've tried my best not to do that since we got here, just so we could eat as a family again. It made me a little guilty about Morris, especially since he was quickly becoming something of an honorary uncle to me, but he'd assured me that he was fine with it. I at least managed to let him eat with all of us once. Usually though, he'd spend the time we ate by patrolling the parameter for anything potentially dangerous.

I was midway into my second fish before dad started up the conversation again.

"How many did you get tonight, anyway?" He asked over a bite of bass.

There wasn't any need to ask what he was referring to. We might have come here to let me practice using Confine, Astralization and tapping into the souls of objects, but the original plan had just been to do it in an empty clearing; maybe make some dummy targets for me to practice on. That had gone out the window on the first day when mom, Morris and I noticed the sheer abundance of ghosts in the area. That might have been strange enough, but when you considered what most of them were ghosts _of_...

I put my fish back on the plate, my appetite suddenly diminished. "We got thirteen today," I reported sullenly, my thoughts going back to just how... wrong the situation here was. "There was one bear, but... the rest of them were all dogs again." The way the gears in dad's head was turning would be obvious to anyone who looked at him. He and mom stopped eating too, all three of our minds now preoccupied with the oddity of it all.

And it had been odd. You would think that a hunting range would mostly have spirits, whether phantoms or ghosts, of wild animals. Sure, I ran into a little over a dozen deer, half as many birds, seven fishes, five bears, two horses, and a very confused elephant (It was a phantom, unlike the rest. Dad suggested it might have been the one stolen from the Brockton Bay zoo by a now dead independent villain back when I was at summer camp a few years ago. Morris suggested that I bind it to a contract, but I don't really have anyway to reach an agreement with it, let alone command it), but those were still less than half of the over eighty ghosts that I, for a lack of better word, exorcised over the week. The rest were all canines in nature. Some might have been wolves, sure, but I didn't need to be an expert in dog breeds to know that not all of them definitely shouldn't have been out here when they died.

"I've heard some rumors from people at work about a few dog fighting rings around the city," Dad suggested hesitantly, humming to himself in contemplation, his eyes set on the food in front of him, even as he just picked testily at it. I looked up and waited for him to continue. "... All of those have been in or near the downtown though; Empire Territory. They say Hookwolf's in charge."

That got me thinking. Dogs being starved to near death before being forced to kill each other? And surrounded by neo-nazis, many of whom would probably be pretty angry if they lost their bets at that. It definitely sounded like a place that would make lots of ghosts.

"Do you think they might have one set up near here?"

"I doubt it. It wouldn't make sense for them to set something like that up this far from their territory when the whole point of it is to entertain the grunts and their muscle. Unless Kaiser became a lot stupider lately, he'd never let Hookwolf do that."

It was, to my surprise, mom, who'd answered the question, with all the thought and seriousness she'd use to analyze essays back when she was still a university professor at Brockton U. I didn't hide my surprise very well either. The silent laugh and amused eye roll made that pretty clear. "I _was_ part of a gang when I was younger, Little Owl," she reminded, wagging her finger at me in that way that teachers in tv shows did when lecturing their students about a mistake they made. It was appropriate, I suppose. "I might have quit before the Dies Veneris turned violent, but even when we were in our Robin Hood phase, we still had to do a lot of the things that gangs are known to do. Keeping and managing territories, handling assets and taking care of logistics. I've learned a few things."

I could feel my jaw quickly reaching the dirt as mom continued to talk about her time as a villain's minion until most of it just up and stopped making sense to me. I tried to look to dad for help, but all he did was shrug helplessly, as if saying 'what can you do?' and just giving up. Thanks dad, you're a real help in these confusing times. Truly.

"-and don't even get me started on training all the new recruits about the things we always have to do. Those were the jobs I hated the most."

That's it, I've had enough. This has gone so far off of the original topic that I could just barely remember what we were talking about anymore.

"Wait, wait, mom, time out!" I shouted, arms waving side to side in a mad scramble to get her to stop before forming the universal 'T' symbol. She stumbled over her words for a bit, but listened, turning a confused look my way, asking for what was wrong without a single word. I felt it should have really been obvious, but voiced my thoughts all the same. "Mom, I knew you were a part of Dies Veneris, but I always thought you were just... you know... one of the protesters that always went with them. Now you're telling me you were... some kind of lieutenant?"

"What?" mom asked back in surprise, eyes wide and blinking. It held for a few seconds before she began giggling, which developed into a full blown laugh. If nothing else, it at least gave me some sense of relief. "Dear, don't be ridiculous. I wasn't a lieutenant," she took a drink from her plastic cup in an attempt to catch her breath, and all I could do was sigh in relief, "I was one of Lustrum's right hand women!"

And just like that, it's all gone.

What the hell were we even talking about again?

-X-

 **AN** : Lot of things going down here: Taylor's first fight, the set up for the arc's main focus, Danny being revealed to be a necrophiliac, a show of Taylor coming into her power, and a little foreshadowing of things to come. I did make some clean ups concerning the short fight scene, but on the whole, nothing's changed. Just fixed some mistakes and had Taylor call out her third attack because she hasn't really practiced enough to do that without shouting out first.


End file.
